Important Cultural Properties
Attachments
Tenmokudai, zonsei, sand-covered obi, tenmokudai, blue shell
Clothing: White ground, small peony, old gold column, dark blue ground with Kotobukiji hoshoiri junko
Inner box, black lacquered with silver lock
Tenmokudai box, paulownia wood, with calligraphy, calligraphy by the same calligrapher
Outer box, paulownia wood, with calligraphy by Wando Wakao
Inscribed on the reverse side of the same lid.
Daitokuji Ryukoin Fixtures – Tennojiya Gohei – Konoike Family
Included in the collection of the Konoike family
Taisho Meikikan, one of the most famous Senke masterpieces
Dimensions
Height: 6.5cm, Bowl diameter: 12.4cm, Bottom diameter: 3.4cm, Weight: 294g
This is another beautiful Tortoiseshell cup. The shape of the cup is slightly open, and as usual, the outside is covered with tortoiseshell glaze of black with yellowish mottling. In this respect, it should be called tortoiseshell cup, but if the inside of the cup has a special design, it is traditionally called “Tortoiseshell with letters” after the name of the design.
The characters are written on the inner wall in three different flower-shaped diamond rings. Of course, this too was done by pasting paper cutouts and flipping the glaze over them to obtain the design. Each of the characters is a four-character phrase: “wealth, beauty, long life,” “golden jade, fullness,” and “good fortune, peace, and happiness. These are called “Kissho Ku” (auspicious phrases), and are made up of a series of auspicious words. This kind of complicated pattern tends to be disturbed by the yellow glaze on the top, but in this tea bowl, it is very precisely expressed, and can be said to be a masterpiece.
