Tea has played a key role in the development of Japanese culture, customs and history, being more, much more that just a pleasant and healthy drink, destined simply for consumption. For the Japanese tea was a symbol, a mark of their identity and a sign of civilisation, that separated them from the "barbarians" of the west. The Tea Ceremony - chado - was and still is one of the most complicated, beautiful and specifically Japanese customs, and just to watch it is a spectacle in itself. Reserved to the few who could perform every step of the complicated ritual in the right way and order, this ceremony has fascinated the westerners who saw it and was imitated in other countries, with specific deformations and errors. There are also other terms to describe it. Cha-no-yu, which in translation is actually "hot water for tea" defines just a single ceremony, much shorter, usually performed between close friends and family. The purists refer to the chaji or chakai, the "tea meeting", a full ceremony several hours long, with a light meal and serving several types of tea.
For this ceremony only the best ceramics and china were used, many purist cosnidering that they had to be brand new, of great quality and created by important and respected makers. So it was no surprise for the Japanese ceramics to be among the first in Asia to carry a mark, impressed or incised, to determine the maker. This marks which gradually appeared and developped at the end of the 16th century became a brand, and a ceramic bowl made by a known maker was very precious, like any other piece of art. Acting as "seals of approval", this marks, which were surprisingly simple, indicated the value and attracted the patrons to commision and buy the tea bowls.
The Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC will be presenting and exhibition dedicated solely to the delicate and precious art of the Japanese tea ceramics and their makers, starting on August 11. The exhibits are bound to be the best from the museum's collection, as well as loans from Asia museums. The marks on the ceramics vary greatly, ranging from the imprint of a large square seal, which might have been the seal of a Kyoto maker to other geometrical and even more complicated forms. One of the masters who used this kind of complicated markings was Ninsei, originary from Kyoto, a true legend among the ceramic makers, who used a characteristical oval shape. By the end of the 17th century, it was a potter from Kyoto, Ogata Kenzan, who changed the way the ceramics were marked by inscribing no less than his studio's name, often integrating it into the vessel's simple decorations.
The makers who were sponsored by rich and powerful samurai clans used much more complicated seals, in order to show that they wares were of higher quality. An example, present in the future exhibition, was the Seto, which produced both ceramics and jars for tea storing, some of them bearing the special name Sobokai. Also, some makers used seals that ressembled those used by the samurais.
2007-07-20
