ART HIS 42C Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Tea Caddy, Azuchi–Momoyama Period, Tokonoma
26 Oct 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Professor Winther Tamaki
Art history department
Art History 42 C
Japanese Art History
Course Code 21020
Discussion code 21021
4 units
No Pre-Reqs
Location: HG1800
Notes
Image 7:
Name: writing box with chryanthemum branches and waves
Time Period: Edo period
Material: lacquer
Features: ink stone inside the box and a tray for brushes (equipment for painter/artist). Flower
design on surface of the box. Brownish, red lacquer color underneath the flowers. Images of
strange europeans inside and on the underside of the lid. These men had exaggerated features
such as long noses, weird clothing, very tall.
Momoyama Period
● Theme: Tea
○ Tea was brought to Japan from China by buddhist priests returning from studies
on the mainland, associated with buddhist temples
○ Tea drinking only took root in Japan after the priest Eisai (1141-1215) imported a
new way of drinking tea from Sung China in the late 12th century
○ Method:
■ Powdered green tea (matcha) is scooped into a bowl
■ Water is added
■ Powder and water mixed w/a bamboo whisk
○ Tea popular beverage during the momoyama period
○ Freshly whisked tea (served in simple ceramics) was sold as a refreshment at tea
stalls in front of shrines and temples and by itinerant tea vendors at famous scenic
spots, such as mount takao
○ Tea’s long association with the zen establishment aided the spread of these
practices among the warrior class
○ During the momoyama period, the tearoom mood was set by a scroll of
calligraphy, or sometimes a painting hung in the tokonoma
■ Object next in importance was the tea caddy, and then the tea scoop and
flower container, with the tea bowl and tea leaf jar following
■ Other items such as the kettle, fresh water jar, lid rest , incense box,
charcoal carrier, bowl for dampened ash, iron-tipped chopsticks, metal
spoon, waste-water jar, and feathers for cleaning off the ash then
following in sequence
■ Each of these utensils would take on a special power inside the tea room
where it became part of an organic whole expressing that specific event
