A great masterpiece. A karamono Bunrin tea caddy. This tea caddy was owned by Yoshitaka Kuki Osumi no Mamoru, and thus the name. The body has a line of chinkuji (sunken lines), and there are many finger marks in the clay with rat-colored clay below.
The overall appearance is of black candy glaze on a chestnut-colored ground, with some glaze oozing from the shoulders and other parts, and black glaze covering the entire surface. The shape and color of the glaze are superb, and this is a perfect tea caddy. It was in the possession of Kuki Yoshitaka, who later presented it to Shogun Hidetada. In August 1635, Shogun Iemitsu gave it to Hotta Kagamori Masamori, and it had been in his family since then. However, Masaaki Hotta, a feudal lord of Sakura, heard of the situation and invested a large sum of money to purchase it, and it was immediately returned to the main family. Later, in May 1883 (Meiji 16), Shoyo Hotta presented it to Prince Akihito Komatsunomiya. (Ganmono Meibutsu Ki, Komeibutsu Ki, Kokin Meibutsu Ruiju, Hotta Kakeishi, Shinzen Nanzanshi, Taisho Meikikan, etc.)
