Tea-leaf storage jar, named Chigusa

Jar, wheel-thrown and paddle-shaped. Four lugs applied to shoulder.
Clay: stoneware, coarse-grained, reddish-brown on surface.
Glaze: wood-ash glaze colored with iron-bearing clay, applied by pouring over inverted jar in overlapping pours; glaze has fired to variegated golden-brown tones with small white dots where glaze thins over small stones protruding from the body. Lower wall, base, and interior unglazed.
Mark: ciphers attributed to Soami, Insetsu, and Ju no Soho, and name and cipher of Kondaya Tokurin, plus one unidentified mark, and auspicious character sho, written on base with brush and ink.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014 from “ciphers of Soami, Insetsu, Ju no Soho, and Kondaya Tokurin,” based on research conducted by Andrew Watsky for the book; added “and auspicious character sho.” )

2. (Louise Cort, 14 March 2011) Ellen Chase weighed the jar and measured its volume.

Weight 11 lb 4 oz = 5.10 kilograms or 5100 grams.
Volume (to the base of the neck) = approximately 25 liters.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014, after remeasuring, from “approximately 24.6 liters”)
The volume of loose tea packed into the jar, according to the record of packing attached to the underside of the lid of the inner box, was expressed in weight: 7.5 kin, or 4.5 kilograms.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014 from 4.6 to 4.5 to use the post-1868 starndardized definition of 1 kin = 600 grams)

3. (From Christie’s catalog entry, lot 1023, 17 Sept. 2009)

An “O-Meibutsu” Stoneware Tea-Leaf Storage Jar named Chigusa (Myriad of flowers).
China, Southern Song/Yuan Dynasty (13th-14th century).
Of ovoid form with four lugs, cylindrical neck and rolled lip, applied with a mottled amber glaze ending well above the base; fitted with wood stopper.
16½in. (41.8cm.)
Inscribed on base: with kao (cursive monograms) by Soami, Torii Insetsu, Ju Soho, Kondaya Tokurin and with unknown kao, Sho.
With double wooden storage boxes, an accompanying letter from Sen no Rikyu to Kondaya Tokurin (mounted as a handscroll; see illustration), a silk mouth cover (kuchioi) of gold brocade (Tomita kinran), a silk footcloth (sokojikiginu) of satin damask (Shibata donsu), a letter by Hisada Soetsu (10th generation of the Takakura Hisada family of the Omote Senke tea school; 1856-1895) dated 1888, lock and key of a storage box with wood plaque of the Hisada family, display cords ordered by Fujita family (2).

Historical period(s)
Southern Song or Yuan dynasty, mid 13th-mid 14th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron glaze
Dimensions
H x Diam (vessel): 41.6 x 36.6 cm (16 3/8 x 14 7/16 in) Diam (vessel mouth): 12.9 cm (5 1/16 in) Diam (vessel foot): 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in)
Geography
China, Guangdong province
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F2016.20.1
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea-leaf storage jar (chatsubo)

Keywords
brown and black glaze, China, Japan, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), stoneware, tea, tea ceremony, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Jar, wheel-thrown and paddle-shaped. Four lugs applied to shoulder.
Clay: stoneware, coarse-grained, reddish-brown on surface.
Glaze: wood-ash glaze colored with iron-bearing clay, applied by pouring over inverted jar in overlapping pours; glaze has fired to variegated golden-brown tones with small white dots where glaze thins over small stones protruding from the body. Lower wall, base, and interior unglazed.
Mark: ciphers attributed to Soami, Insetsu, and Ju no Soho, and name and cipher of Kondaya Tokurin, plus one unidentified mark, and auspicious character sho, written on base with brush and ink.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014 from "ciphers of Soami, Insetsu, Ju no Soho, and Kondaya Tokurin," based on research conducted by Andrew Watsky for the book; added "and auspicious character sho." )

2. (Louise Cort, 14 March 2011) Ellen Chase weighed the jar and measured its volume.

Weight 11 lb 4 oz = 5.10 kilograms or 5100 grams.
Volume (to the base of the neck) = approximately 25 liters.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014, after remeasuring, from "approximately 24.6 liters")
The volume of loose tea packed into the jar, according to the record of packing attached to the underside of the lid of the inner box, was expressed in weight: 7.5 kin, or 4.5 kilograms.
(Corrected 7 Jan 2014 from 4.6 to 4.5 to use the post-1868 starndardized definition of 1 kin = 600 grams)

3. (From Christie's catalog entry, lot 1023, 17 Sept. 2009)

An "O-Meibutsu" Stoneware Tea-Leaf Storage Jar named Chigusa (Myriad of flowers).
China, Southern Song/Yuan Dynasty (13th-14th century).
Of ovoid form with four lugs, cylindrical neck and rolled lip, applied with a mottled amber glaze ending well above the base; fitted with wood stopper.
16½in. (41.8cm.)
Inscribed on base: with kao (cursive monograms) by Soami, Torii Insetsu, Ju Soho, Kondaya Tokurin and with unknown kao, Sho.
With double wooden storage boxes, an accompanying letter from Sen no Rikyu to Kondaya Tokurin (mounted as a handscroll; see illustration), a silk mouth cover (kuchioi) of gold brocade (Tomita kinran), a silk footcloth (sokojikiginu) of satin damask (Shibata donsu), a letter by Hisada Soetsu (10th generation of the Takakura Hisada family of the Omote Senke tea school; 1856-1895) dated 1888, lock and key of a storage box with wood plaque of the Hisada family, display cords ordered by Fujita family (2).

Marking(s)

Mark: ciphers attributed to Soami, Insetsu, and Ju no Soho, and name and cipher of Kondaya Tokurin, plus one unidentified mark, and auspicious character sho, written on base with brush and ink.

Published References
  • Picturing Commerce in and from the East Asian Maritime Circuits, 1550-1800. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Plate 1.
  • Title unknown. no. 34, 2013. .
  • Christine M. Guth. Art, Tea, and Industry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle. Princeton. .
  • Kyoto National Museum. Sen no Rikyu ten (Sen no Rikyu): Tokubetsu tenrankai 400-nenki [The 400th Memorial: Special Exhibition]. Exh. cat. Kyoto, March 27 - May 6, 1990. pl. 77.
  • Ryuei ondogu yosecho [Catalogue of Tea Utensils in the Collection of the Tokugawa shogunate]. .
  • Fujita Danshakuke Zohin Nyusatsu Mokuroku [Auction Catalogue of the Collection of Baron Fujita]. Osaka. pl. 166.
  • Kansei choshu shokefu [Public Record of Families in the Kansei Era (1789-1801)]. vol. 469, . .
  • Zuihitsu bungaku senshu [Collected Miscellanies and Literary Writings]. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 11: p. 32.
  • Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Joken'in dono onjikki [Public Record of Joken'in]., 6th month, 1st day. .
  • Yamanoue Soji. Yamanoue no Soji ki [Notes of Yamanoue Soji]. .
  • Kamiya Sotan. Sotan nikki [Diary of Tea Gatherings of Sotan]., Tensho 15 (1587), 1st month, 6th day. .
  • Matsuya Hisayoshi. Hisayoshi chakaiki [Record of Tea Gatherings of Hisayoshi]., Tensho 14 (1586), fourth month, 25th day. .
  • Imai Sokyu. Imai sokyu chanoyu kakinuki [A Record of Tea Gathering of Imai Sokyu]., Tensho 3 (1575), 1st month, 27th day. .
  • Around Chigusa: Tea and The Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan. Princeton, New Jersey. pp. 16, 24, 41, 159, 160, 162, 175, figs. 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 15.
  • Gotoh Museum of Art. Yamanoue no Soji Ki : Tensho juyonnen no me [Yamanoue Soji's Notes : On the Proper Use of Fine Tea Utensils: Catalog of the 35th Anniversary Exhibition of the Goto Bijutsukan]. Exh. cat. Tokyo, October 28 - November 26, 1995. p. 17, pl. 5, 5-2.
  • Yamanoue no Soji Ki: tsuketari Chawa shigetsushu. Iwanami bunko, 33-051-1 Tokyo. p. 27.
  • Tadachika Kuwata. Sotan nikki : kamiya sotan no cha seikatsu [Diary of Tea Gatherings of Sotan: Kamiya Sotan's Tea Life]. Kyoto. p. 28.
  • Hotei Ryuei gomotsushu [Revised Version of the List of the Collection of Tokugawa shogunate]. p. 48.
  • , Tadachika Kuwata, Koshiro Haga. Sado Koten Zenshu [Collection of Classical References about Tea Practice]. 12 vols., Kyoto. pp. 60, 167.
  • Yamanoue no Soji kenkyu 1 [Study of Yamanoue Soji's Notes]. Tokyo. pp. 65, 71, 106, pl. 3.
  • Sado kobijutsu zocho shisei jokan [Collection of Antique Art for Tea Practice from Famous Collections]. Tokyo. p. 75.
  • Kanai Miki. Mi ni ikubeki, kaigai ni watatta Nihon bijutsu best 5 [Best must go-to-see Japanese art that went overseas]. vol. 66, no. 1005, June 2014. p. 98.
  • Alan Scott Pate. Kanban: Traditional Shop Signs from Japan. Exh. cat. San Diego. p. 121, fig. 51.
  • Yoshinobu Tokugawa. Chatsubo [Tea Jars]. 2 vols., Kyoto. pp. 144, 240-41.
  • Sen no Rikyu no shokan [Letters of Sen no Rikyu]. Tokyo. cat. 109, pp. 261-262.
  • Kokushi Taikei #43: Tokugawa jikki dairoppen [Collection of National Historical Documents: Public Record of the Tokugawa Shogunate, vol. 6]. Tokyo. p. 621.
  • Tatsusaburo Hayashiya. Kadokawa chado daijiten fukyuban [Kadokawa Encyclopedia of Tea Practice]. 2 vols., Tokyo, 1990 and 2002. p. 861.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art, Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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