Way of Tea - Japanese Tea Ceremony News & Articles

WASHINGTON, DC.- A humble jar widely revered as an icon of Japanese tea culture has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. The jar was purchased at an auction held by Christie’s in New York City Sept. 17. The jar, made in China during the late Southern Song or Yuan dynasty (13th or 14th century) and shipped to Japan as a container for a commercial product, developed a distinguished pedigree in the hands of influential tea connoisseurs, collectors and rulers who used it for storing precious tea and displayed it in their tearooms between the 15th and 20th centuries. “This handsome jar has been admired and sought after by Japanese tea masters for half a millennium,” said James Ulak, deputy director of the Freer and Arthur M. Sackler galleries. “As the documentation shows, its surface has been admired and caressed by a who’s who of Japan’s cultural giants from the 15th century forward. It is extremely rare to find such a storied work on the market.” Read the full article here.