Acquired by Charles Lang Freer, these Chinese bowls, small jars, and other ceramics were used as tea utensils in sixteenth-century Japan as part of chanoyu,or the “art of tea.” Highlighting Chinese tea objects with long histories of use and admiration in Japan, Chinese Ceramics for Tea in Japan complements the Sackler’s exhibition Chigusa and the Art of Tea, on view February 22–July 27, 2014.
Detail, Karamono tea caddy, bunrin type; Tea caddy (karamono taikai chaire); Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 13th-15th century; Stoneware with iron and ash glazes; ivory lid; Freer Gallery of Art, F1897.42a-b