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Daitokuji Temple
The head temple of the Rinzai sect’s Daitokuji school of Buddhism, also known as Ryuhozan.The temple was established by Zen Buddhist monk Shuho Myocho (Daito Kokushi) in 1315, in the latter years of the Kamakura period. It was severely damaged during the Muromachi period Onin War but was restored by Ikkyu Sojun. In the wake [...]
Chinese pottery tea caddy NITTA
An imported Chinese tea container in the katatsuki (having flattened "shoulders" near the neck) style. One of the three most famous katatsuki-style containers. After Murata Juko acquired it, it was passed to Miyoshi Masanaga, Otomo Sorin, Oda Nobunaga, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It became a Tokugawa family heirloom following the fall of Osaka Castle.tall: 8.6 cmorigin: [...]
Chinese pottery tea caddy TSUKUMO NASU
The "Tsukumo-nasu" is a Chinese-imported ceramic tea container in the nasu ("eggplant" - rounded with a slightly larger bottom) style originally belonging to the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). It is said that he even carried it to battle with him. After that it was handed down as a favorite possession [...]
Chinese celadon incense burner CHIDORI
This is a celadon longquan-ware incense burner, once owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. An anecdote about Ishikawa Goemon is relevant to Chidori. He was ordered to assassinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi by Kimura Hitachinosuke, a vassal of Toyotomi Hidetsugu (Hideyoshi’s nephew). One night Ishikawa Goemon finally succeeded in creeping into Hideyoshi’s bed room in Fushimi castle. But Hideyoshi [...]
Antique Chinese pottery tea caddy HATSUHANA
A katatsuki-style tea container imported from China. One of the three most famous katatsuki-style containers. Said to have been one of Yang Guifei's oil jars. Named "hatsuhana (the first flower of the season, or a girl who has just flowered into womanhood)" for its elegance by Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Oda Nobunaga acquired it from the merchants [...]
Japan's national treasure: Korean ido pottery tea bowl KIZAEMON IDO
Koraimono (means Korean ware)Koraimono is a general term referring to tea utensils produced in the Korean Peninsula, in contrast with the Chinese-produced style of pottery known as "karamono." Around the mid-16th century, corresponding with the rise of the wabi-cha style of tea ceremony, this multi-purpose bowl produced in ordinary kilns throughout the Korean peninsula came [...]
Japan's National Treasure: Shiroraku-Chawan FUJISAN
One of the two Japanese pottery tea bowls designated as national treasures. This is the work of Koetsu Honami who was active from Momoyama period to Edo period. It was named meaning the one and only chawan formed by associating snow-capped Mount Fuji. On the other hand, it is also said that ash happened to [...]
Antique Chinese celadon tea bowl JUKO CHAWAN
Murata Juko (1423-1502) is known in Japanese cultural history as the founder of chanoyu (or sado, Japanese tea ceremony), in that he was the early developer of the wabi-cha style of tea enjoyment employing native Japanese implements. In the shogun family of the Muromachi period , the Tenmoku tea bowl or celadon porcelain tea bowl of [...]
Japan's national treasure: Chinese longquan celadon tea bowl BAKOHAN
One famous Longquan ceradon bowl is named Bakohan, and is a National Treasure of Japan displayed in the Tokyo National Museum. According to a document from the Edo period this beautiful green tea bowl was made in a Longquan kiln between 1127-1279 (the South song era) and gifted from China to Japan's Taira no Shigemori [...]
Antique Korean ido pottery incense case KONOYO
The inscription "Kono yo (this world)" comes from a poem by Izumi Shikibu in the Goshui Wakashu (a collection of medieval poetry) which reads: "Soon my life will be at an end: above all other memories of this world, let me remember this, the moment of our meeting" to express its rarity. Known to have [...]