Takatori Revival Meibutsu
Accessories
Lids: Three
Cover: Five
Inner Box: Paulownia wood, silver powder lettering, inscription
Outer Box: Shunkei lacquer, gold powder lettering, inscription, rim, Waku-suspension, wisteria and bird maki-e
Accompanying Document: One, written by Kobori Enshu
Accompanying Document Box: Paulownia wood, inscription
Provenance
Kuroda family → Fujita Densaburō → Inoue Seigai
Dimensions
Some-kawa
Height: 10.0 cm, Mouth diameter: 3.9 cm, Body diameter: 6.3 cm, Base diameter: 3.45 cm, Weight: 145 g
Akinoyo
Height: 9.3cm, Mouth Diameter: 3.6cm, Body Diameter: 6.3cm, Base Diameter: 3.9cm, Weight: 95g
These two Takatori tea caddies, Somekawa and Autumn Night, were likely selected by Enshū as Meibutsu—to be paired for appreciation, one embodying the splendid colors of spring, the other evoking the quiet solitude of an autumn night.
Somekawa, though plain in form, reveals a glaze and natural firing that produce a landscape of almost fantastical beauty, capturing a scene one might never see again.
Autumn Night, on the other hand, is a tea caddy that complements Somekawa, its glaze’s strangeness praised for depicting a scene where, beyond the charm of mountain trees colored by the brocade wind, one can glimpse the deep mountain shadows of autumn leaves stretching from the shoulders.
Each comes with a matching fukuro (cover), five pieces in total.
Mochizuki Kandou
Kiyomizu-kiribai (Plum Blossom Pattern) Chrysanthemum Pattern
Mikumo-ya Donshu
Mikumo-ya Donshu
Kiyomizu-kiribai (Plum Blossom Pattern) Chrysanthemum Pattern
Mochizuki-Kandou
Long ago, when I journeyed to Tsukushi, I heard a woman behind a bamboo screen say, “This is a man who loves color.” How could one who crosses the Somekawa not become a lover of color? Thus it is written in The Tales of Ise, as if in a seat in the land of
This is a famous place, and thus it is. Those who see this tea caddy should think: “One must not be swayed by color.”
Reply to the above poem
Fame is but a fleeting thing, like the wet cloth of the waves, which dries and fades.
It is vain to request the priest to write a note before the tea caddy is even finished.
It should be adorned.
Please refrain from showing it to others.
To Lord Uemonnojo
I will attend.
Gold powder lettering: Inscription
Rim: Waku-kake: Wisteria and bird maki-e
