Tea caddy, named Sakai Kokatatsuki, with red lacquer tray and scroll, China, Yuan dynasty, 1279–1368, brown stoneware with black iron glaze and ivory lid; lacquer; paper and silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Gregory Kinsey, Kinsey Chanoyu Collection, in honor of Louise Cort and in appreciation of her years of scholarship in support of Chanoyu education in the U.S., F2021.3.5.1a–gg–3a–e
National Museum of Asian Art Freer Gallery of Art
Jefferson Drive and 12th St., SW
Washington, DC
Japanese tea practice, chanoyu, centers on the appreciation of tea utensils used to prepare and consume powdered green tea, called matcha. Chanoyu elevates these utensils, which include ceramic tea caddies, tea bowls, and hanging scrolls of calligraphy, into objects of aesthetic admiration. The objects in this exhibition accumulated significance over generations through their continued use and display at tea gatherings. Tea practitioners have also cherished the accompanying boxes, documents, and textiles that demonstrate an object’s accrued layers of historical and cultural meaning.
Reasons to Gather: Japanese Tea Practice Unwrapped presents eleven historic tea utensils and accessories, including ceramics, hanging scrolls, boxes, and wrapping cloths. Finding their way from China, Korea, and South Asia into Japanese tea rooms, these objects tell a story of trade and exchange across Asia. This exhibition unveils how chanoyu brought together these different cultural elements through networks of tea practitioners.
The tea utensils featured in this exhibition come from the Kinsey Chanoyu Collection. Gregory Kinsey gifted the museum nearly two hundred objects, a collection that grew from his lifelong devotion to the practice of chanoyu. In an effort to share and uplift the art of tea practice, Kinsey dedicated most of the works to the Freer Study Collection for use in public programs that demonstrate the traditional preparation of matcha. Because of their historical and artistic significance, another sixteen pieces with accompanying provenance documentation entered the Freer Gallery of Art Collection for exhibition and research.
