Tea Ceremony
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Bowl in the Shape of a Stylized Sandbank with a Handle, Mino ware, Oribe type, Edo period, 17th century
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 4
August 12, 2020 (Wed) - November 1, 2020 (Sun)Tea drinking and its role in society changed over time. In the 12th century, Zen monks introduced a new kind of tea drinking from China: green tea was ground into a powder and mixed with hot water. Monks drank this tea as a medicine and to stay awake during meditation.
Before long, the samurai also began to drink tea and competed for prizes in blind tasting competitions. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the elite samurai who ruled Japan focused on the aesthetics of tea drinking. They collected valuable Chinese works like paintings and tea bowls, displaying and using them during tea gatherings.
A century later, Sen no Rikyū (1522–91) established the foundations of the tea ceremony. When serving tea, he used valuable Chinese works together with simple utensils. He also stressed humility and the beauty of imperfection. Elite samurai practiced his style and its variations as a social, aesthetic, and spiritual pursuit.
From its origins until the present, the tea ceremony has always incorporated diverse genres of art. Works that tea masters believed had great aesthetic or historical value were carefully passed down through the generations. A selection of these works is shown here and changed regularly to reflect the seasons.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Incense Container in the Shape of a Temple Foundation Stone | Iga ware | Edo period, 17th century | G-193 | ||||
| Highlight | Tea Kettle with Hailstone Texturing and the Inscription "Onjōji Temple" | Ashiya ware | Muromachi period, 15th–16th century | Gift of Mr. Matsudaira Naoaki E-19545 | |||
| Highlight | Tea Bowl | Koido type, Korea | Joseon dynasty, 16th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige TG-2708 | |||
| Highlight | Flower Vase with Two Handles with a Dragon | Zhangzhou ware, "Gosu akae" type, China | Ming dynasty, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige TG-2548 | |||
| Highlight | Part of Volume 1 of the "Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing" (One of the "Hisamatsu Clan Fragments") | Attributed to Fujiwara no Kōzei (972–1027) | Heian period, 12th century | B-2556 | On exhibit through September 22, 2020 | ||
| Set of Bowls "Mukōzuke" | Jingdezhen ware, China | Ming dynasty, 16th century | TG-2177 | ||||
| Highlight | Bowl in the Shape of a Stylized Sandbank with a Handle | Mino ware, Oribe type | Edo period, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Mino Susumu G-5091 | |||
| Highlight | Sake Bottle | Bizen ware | Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century | Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon G-4822 |