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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Tea Articles: Pre 1900: Item # 1483678

Please refer to our stock # TRC240211 when inquiring.

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Kyoto Ceramics and Fine Art
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Kamigamo District
Kyoto, Japan


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The poem etched on the side of this exceptional piece reads: "As a pastime ― bringing clumsy, fragile things to sell ― at Uruma Market ― how lonely!"  A very significant poem as it conveys a bit of irony; for the Edo period nun who inscribed this poem would go on to create a legacy of art, beauty, and philosophy that endures even today. The poem also suggests that this is one of her earlier works that would have been produced before she became renowned throughout Japan for her studio pottery. 


Ōtagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) was born into a Samurai family but soon after adopted by the Ōtagaki family, from the age of seven to sixteen she was a lady in waiting at Kameoka castle where she was trained in the arts and courtly graces. Due to her rumored great beauty, she soon married but after the death of her husband in 1823, she joined the temple Chion-in and became a nun, taking Rengetsu (Lotus Moon) as her Buddhist name. Rengetsu is widely regarded as one of the greatest waka poets of the 19th century. A skilled Shijo School painter, she was also an accomplished calligrapher and potter. She admired and studied under a number of great poets including Ozawa Roan and Ueda Akinari, and later in life became a close friend and mentor to Tomioka Tessai—later to become a great artist in his own right.

This ceremonial tea bowl is 4.8 inches wide (12.2cm) and stands 2.7 inches tall (6.8cm). In excellent antique condition, it comes with a certification box from Jinkō-in; the temple where she spent the later years of her life, several documents with examples of the poem and her signature, and an antique wrapping cloth for the box.

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