Tea Ceremony
-
Tea Bowl, Named Miyamaji (Deep Mountain Path)
Takatori ware, Previously owned by Morikawa Nyoshun'an, Edo period, 17th centuryJapanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 4
March 11, 2025 (Tue) - May 18, 2025 (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.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | Part of "Collection of Japanese Poems Ancient and Modern" (One of the Sunshōan Poem Papers) | Attributed to Ki no Tsurayuki | Heian period, 11th century | Gift of Mrs. Yamamoto Tomiko and Mr. Yamamoto Kenji, B-3071 | On exhibit through April 13, 2025 | ||
| Tea Container with a Weeping Cherry Tree | Edo period, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige, H-4321 | On exhibit through April 13, 2025 | ||||
| Water Jar in the Shape of a Bag for Gold Dust | Takatori ware | Edo period, 17th century | G-5779 | ||||
| Highlight | Tea Container with Lugs, Named "Odaimyō" | Seto ware | Edo period, 17th century | Gift of Mrs. Shiobara Chiyo, G-5786 | |||
| Highlight | Tea Scoop, Named “Uzumibi (Ember in the Ashes)” | By Kobori Enshū (1579–1647) | Edo period, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon, G-4839 | |||
| Highlight | Tea Bowl, Named "Miyamaji (Deep Mountain Path)" | Takatori ware, Previously owned by Morikawa Nyoshun'an | Edo period, 17th century | G-5846 | |||
| Bowls | Jingdezhen ware, China | Ming dynasty, 16th century | TG-2177 | ||||
| Shallow Bowl with a Flower | Mino ware, Yellow Seto style | Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige, G-5311 | On exhibit through April 13, 2025 |