The Way of Tea » dogu

Artisans hand down tea-whisk tradition

Blake Harvey — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:36:11 +0000

This year marks the 1,300th anniversary of the relocation of the capital to present-day Nara, then called Heijokyo. And while tourists may flock to anniversary events, temples and shrines renovated for the occasion and to special public viewings of Buddhist statues and treasures, Nara has another treasure to be proud of. It is Takayama chasen, tea whisks used in traditional tea ceremonies.

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Float Matcha Tea Bowl

Blake Harvey — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:55:46 +0000

MOLO Design in Vancouver has created a modern glass version of the Japanese chawan. The bowl was designed with dimensions and proportions fitting to matcha. While you wouldn’t find someone using this in an actual tea ceremony, the bowl’s amazing presentation of the whisked green tea is quite beautiful.

The bowl can be purchased online here

Visit MOLO Design’s float glassware page

Freer Gallery of Art Acquires Renowned Object of Japanese Tea Culture

Blake Harvey — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:59:25 +0000

Tea-leaf Storage Jar, named Chigusa, Southern China, Southern Song or Yuan dynasty 13th-14th century, Stoneware with iron glaze, H: 41.8 cm., Freer Gallery of Art.

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.