Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) Antique poem carving tea bowl #4030

- width: approx. 12.5cm (4 59⁄64in) x 11.5cm (4 17⁄32in)

- height: approx. 6cm (2 23⁄64in)

- weight: 292g (gross 543g)

Hitokoe wa shinobi kane te y morasu ran tsuki mo katabuku yamahototogisu.

Hearing her cry I wonder if unable to hold back she spills out? As the moon sets behind the mountain— a little cuckoo.

Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)

She was a Buddhist nun who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Japanese poets of the 19th century. She was adopted at a young age by the Otagaki family. It is said that she didn’t live a happy life because she lost her adoptive father and five brothers from illness. She married, but her husband died soon after. She remarried but lost this husband too from illness after only four years, as well as her young son and three young daughters. She joined the temple Chion-in and became a nun, taking Rengetsu ("Lotus Moon") as her Buddhist name. She made pottery inscribed with her poems with a spike in order to make a living. Fortunately her products became popular and she became very wealthy. However she continued to live a simple life. She donated a large amount of money during a famine in the 1850’s and devoted herself to saving the poor late in life.