Examples of Objects on Display

• 

  National Treasure
  Vase with phoenix-shaped handles, named “Bansei (ten thousand sounds)” Celadon

  Longquan ware, Southern Song dynasty, 13th century
  Height: 30.8cm, mouth diameter: 10.8cm, base diameter: 11.4cm
  Provenance: Tokugawa Iemitsu (Third shogun of the Edo period)
  → Tofukumon-in (sister of Iemitsu, wife of Emperor Go-Mino-o)
  → Koben Hosshinno (Bishamon-do Temple head priest of royal origin)
  Dates on display: Tuesday, May 19 – Sunday, June 28
  Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi

  Celadon produced in Longquan, China during the Southern Song dynasty, especially those known as “kinuta seiji (mallet-shaped celadon)” were among the most highly praised ceramics introduced to Japan since early times and passed down through generations. Kundaikan Sochoki, a record of ornamentation of public and private spaces for the Muromachi shogun family written by Noami, in considered one of the first to describe what was later known as kinuta seiji, though the use of such name actually began around early seventeenth century.
  This vase is one of the most splendid examples of celadon vase with phoenix handles among the extant similar pieces in terms of form, size and color of the glaze, along with another work known as “Sensei (one thousand sounds)” housed in Yomei Bunko. According to Kaiki, a record of speech and action by a talented physician Yorakuin Konoe Iehiro, the latter piece was named Sensei by Emperor Go-Sai after Bai Juyi’s poem Wen ye zhen (Hearing the fulling blocks at night), the name Bansei was also thought to have been taken from the same poem after the vase was presented to Tofukumon-in from the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu.

• 

  National Treasure
  Tea bowl
  Tenmoku glaze with silvery spots

  Jian ware, Southern Song dynasty, 12th – 13th century
  Height: 7.5cm, mouth diameter: 12.2cm, base diameter: 4.2cm
  Provenance: Toyotomi Hidetsugu → Nishi-Hongan-ji temple → Mitsui family
  → Sakai family of Wakasa Province → the Ataka Collection
  The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka

  This type of tea bowl is known in Japan as yuteki (oil spot) tenmoku, from the spots similar to drops of oil covering the surface. Kundaikan Sochoki, a record of ornamentation of public and private spaces for the shogun, names yuteki tenmoku as the second most valuable piece suitable for use by the shogun. This tea bowl is a splendid piece known for myriads of gold, silver and dark blue spots covering all over the body.
  According to Taisho Meikikan (a calatog of famous tea bowls and utensils) written by entrepreneur and tea master Takahashi Soan (1861-1937), there were two accompanying letters to this tea bowl, which are now missing. They mentioned the provenance of this piece: “Utensils from the Jurakudai owned by Lord Hidetsugu were handed to Nishi-Hongan-ji Temple, which were later in possession of Mitsui Hachiro-emon. It was later presented by him. The red lacquer tea bowl stand was formerly owned by (Kobori) Enshu and accompanied the tea bowl when it came into the possession of Hachiro-emon”.

• 

  Important Cultural Property
  Daisu shelf with a matching set of tea utensils
  Pure gold

  1639, Edo period
  Height: 70.4cm, depth: 41.5cm, width: 90.9cm, weight of kettle 3,145g, weight of brazier: 7,020g
  Provenance: Chiyo-hime (wife of Tokugawa Mitsutomo, second generation of Owari Tokugawa family)
  → Owari Tokugawa family
  Dates on display: Saturday, April 4 – Sunday, May 17
  The Tokugawa Art Museum

  Daisu shelf was introduced in 1267 and the manner of displaying the set of chanoyu utensils on a daisu shelf during tea making was initiated later by the Zen monk Muso Kokushi. During the Muromachi period (1336-1573) the style of tea practice in the shoin-style rooms (study or drawing room with tatami floors and decorative built-in shelves) was established by the dohoshu (attendants as well as artistic advisors to Shogun), using the daisu shelf. Since the administration of Oda Nobunaga in the latter half of the sixteenth century, chanoyu was used for political strategy (chanoyu seido, meaning “chanoyu policy”), allowing the practice of chanoyu only to those who were given authority. During the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who succeeded Nobunaga, chanoyu using the daisu shelf could not be practiced without Hideyoshi’s permission. The Tokugawa shogunate also succeeded the chanoyu seido. Chanoyu during this time was practiced in the shoin-style rooms, in which daisu shelf was an indispensable item.
  This piece was part of the wedding furniture of Chiyo-hime (1637-99), eldest daughter of the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, when she was married off to Tokugawa Mitsutomo, second generation of Owari Tokugawa family. During the early stages of the Tokugawa administration, this daisu shelf, along with Hatsune Chodo(a set of cosmetic articles and shelf with Hatsune motif derived from The Tale of Genji, registered national treasure), is of finest quality, demonstrating the high prestige of the shogun family and the Owari Tokugawa family, the head family of the three branch families of the Tokugawa clan. The shelf is part of a set, accompanied by a kettle, brazier, water vessel, rinse-water receptacle, lid rest, ladle stand, tea jar, tenmoku tea bowl stand, tenmoku tea bowl and a tea caddy.