AH 0102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Bizen Ware, Shigaraki Ware, Jian Ware
12 May 2018
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Notes for Day 17: April 6, 2018
Japan in the 16th Century: Hideyoshi, Rikyu, and Chojiro
Announcements:
• Yale trip on the 14th a 2:30 train (3:30 visit at the gallery)
• Questions about the toriawase assignment
• Signups for presentation dates
• Journal 8 due Tuesday (Rikyu and Oribe)
• Journal 9 is coming up in a few weeks; will require a visit to Bellarmine museum to view
the Gesu exhibition (Asian ceramics in back hall)—hours are 11-4 Tuesday to
Saturday—there are ceramic pieces that are great to look at
Goals for Today:
• Looking at social context of tea wares as well as political context
• We are going to discuss Raku ceramics, invented by Chojiro
Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591); Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598); and tea bowl from Chojiro’s time
period (1516-1592?)
Rikyu Movie (2013):
• Rikyu was originally a merchant
• He was hired by Hideyoshi to be his royal tea master
• He was then forced to commit suicide by Hideyoshi—it was a common punishment by
tyrants and powerful individuals
o Some reasons include that Rikyu might have been a Christian, and therefore he
was persecuted
o Rikyu probably didn’t agree with Hideyoshi’s aesthetic taste
o Rikyu once built a statue of himself and placed it in front of a temple to show that
he was above Hideyoshi which Hideyoshi crucified after the death of Rikyu
• There was the presence of a tea caddy that Rikyu gave to his wife
• Rikyu also made his own tea scoop and gave it to his wife
Revolution of the tea ceremony in the 16th century:
• The tea bowl used is Jian ware
• The tea caddy in the center is Jian ware
• The tea scoop is actually Japanese, but it is made in any ivory style
• These materials and other Chinese ceramics were used for the Japanese tea ceremony
(karamono)
• For the next slide, the water jar in the center is Japanese and is the rough utilitarian ware
(Shigaraki ware, its kiln site)
o The tea caddy is Bizen ware, red clay and fire markings, unglazed
o The bamboo vase, which is hung in the tokonoma, is associated with Rikyu
because he used to make them
o The tea scoop made by Rikyu that contains several boxes and a letter that shows
its prominence
o The tea bowl is Raku ware tea bowl
Momoyama Period Japan:
• 1573-1615
• warlords, castles, golden screens that are trying to obtain Japan for themselves
• warlords are rich: Hideyoshi had a golden tea room with his portrait in the tokonoma
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
