Famous Item: Passed Down in the Bishū Family
Brief Biography
His grandfather was Tanaka Sen’ami, a member of the Ashikaga family. Sen no Rikyū took the name Sen from this connection. He was known as Sōeki and used the pen name Hōsen-sai. He studied tea under Hokukō Dōchin and later under Shōō. He initially served Oda Nobunaga. After Nobunaga’s death, he served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was granted three thousand koku. In Tenshō 13 (1585), he presented tea to Emperor Ōgimachi and was granted the lay Buddhist name Rikyū by imperial decree. In February of Tenshō 19 (1591), he was suddenly punished and committed seppuku on the 29th day of the same month. He was seventy years old, or possibly sixty-nine.
Tea Scoop
This is a rare example of a quiet, modest form among Rikyū’s tea scoops. According to tradition, at the end of his life, Rikyū gave tea scoops to his two trusted friends, Furuta Oribe and Hosokawa Sansai. This is one of those scoops.
Tube
After Rikyū’s death, Furuta Oribe sought to preserve his master’s tea scoop as a memento, adding as much solemnity as possible. He coated the inside and outside of a bamboo tube with lacquer, opening a square window in the center. This window allowed him to visualize the scoop within as Rikyū himself, enabling him to pay homage morning and evening with the heart of a disciple facing his master.
Accessories
Inner box: Tame-nuri lacquer, gold-powdered characters, inscription: “Namida Chashaku (Tear Tea Scoop), made by Rikyu, owned by Furuta Oribe”
Outer box: Paulownia wood, natural finish, inscription: “Famous Item, made by Sen no Rikyu, Tea Scoop, inscribed ‘Namida’”
Recorded in
Kokin Meibutsu Ruishu (Collection of Famous Items Through the Ages): Three Hundred Selected Tea Scoops
Addendum
The route by which it entered the Owari Tokugawa family is said to be that after Furuta Oribe’s execution, all the Furuta family’s possessions were confiscated by the Tokugawa shogunate and later transferred to the Owari Tokugawa family.
Dimensions
Tea Scoop
Length: 17.3 cm
Width: 0.4–0.8 cm
Thickness: 0.3 cm
Tube
Length: 21.2 cm
Diameter: 2.4 cm
Owner
Tokyo Tokugawa Reimeikai (Custodied by Nagoya Tokugawa Art Museum)
