Jump to content

Ido Tea Bowls: Treasured Possessions of Muromachi Daimyō

Henry Wilson
 Share

Recommended Posts

Robert Mormile Collaborator

Robert Mormile

Posted
Posted

Recommendations to anyone visiting the exhibition would be to bring earplugs. I visited the Raku Museum in Kyoto ( http://www.raku-yaki.or.jp ) a few weeks ago and it was ruined by a group of women that felt it necessary to make silly comments very-loudly on each of the 50 objects on display. The ceramic floors turned their loud voices into a flock of geese.

 

Thanks for posting the info. Robert

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Henry Wilson Veteran

Henry Wilson

Posted
  • Author
Posted

At a cultural event near you. :rotfl:

 

post-15-14196887092973_thumb.jpg

 

My wife and I were in an antique shop in Nara recently and a group of such leopard skin pattern clad ladies who were browsing accused the owner of stealing all the stuff in the shop and told him he should give them a better discount because of that!!! There some weird logic going on which was very funny.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robert Mormile Collaborator

Robert Mormile

Posted
Posted

Henry:

 

I am fairly certain that these were the ladies at the Raku Museum. Nothing like trying to breath in that atmosphere of wabi-sabi with someone screaming “Look! A red one!” “Look! this one has a rabbit on it!” I was more disappointed with the museum officials who timidly witnessed the atrocity. The collection can be viewed in 45 minutes, they should just prohibit loud talking inside the three exhibition halls. Best of luck at the Ido exhibition.

 

Robert

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pete Klein Grand Master

Pete Klein

Posted
Posted

Anyone who was at the 2012 Chicago show Saturday afternoon can tell you about the 'Bunny Lady', who went around the tables practically shrieking to her boyfriend, "Oh LOOOOOK -- BUNNIEEEEEES" whenever she came across anything remotely like a rabbit theme! It was like Honey Boo Boo on LSD! ROFLMAO!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kusunokimasahige Grand Master

kusunokimasahige

Posted
Posted

If we would want to make you hide under the table Brian we would have posted a certain middle aged Russian lady roaming Facebook at this time..... Who does all sorts of tricks... But not with the ping pong ball.

 

About rowdy ladies and irritating folk. When I worked in the Museum of Antiquities there were several annoying groups visiting from time to time. Most irritating were secondary school groups of which some pupils were so bored they decided to stick gum on ancient statues.

 

Older people can be irritating too. Once at the cultures and ethnicities museum they had an exhibit of Japanese traditional arts and crafts. There was a guy, in his sixties, with a woman in her sixties, he dressed in some arty farty coat, shawl and hat, and she in abundant gold necklaces, earrings, and a overly painted face. They were looking at a Japanese Maiko comb with maki-e designs. He said to the woman: "well, this here is the epitomy of the zeste for emptiness in form which the Japanese used to let the feeling of the fleeting world combine with that of the filled world of the Edo Period".

 

I could not resist and said: "It is just a comb".

 

He got angry.

 

Ah the horror of crowds and semi-intellectual museum visitors... ;)

 

KM

 

The museum is definetely on my to do list one day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pete Klein Grand Master

Pete Klein

Posted
Posted

Several years ago, while I was at the San Francisco Token Kai a friend and I journeyed into the city to go to the 'Lords of the Samurai' exhibition of the Hosokawa Daimyo Clan / Eisei Bunko Treasures collection exhibit at the Asian Museum. At that time I was just beginning my study of tea wares in relation to wabicha and the Momoyama Nihonto fittings which they influenced. Having never seen any of these chadogu before, aside from books or on-line, I had no real life reference points to guide me. At the back of the exhibit hall enclosed in a large windowed wall case around a corner I came face to face with a petite chaire, (tea caddy), so delicate that it looked as if a breath would crack it. I had, to use an aged term, an epiphany. (The word gob-smacked also comes to mind). I stood there literally staring at that little chaire, unable to process the simple yet profound beauty of it. I have never seen a sword, piece of kodogu nor koshirae which had that effect on me. I have come to understand that at that moment 'I Got It' as to why those samurai held these pieces so dearly. It is an experience I can highly recommend.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Henry Wilson Veteran

Henry Wilson

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I can relate to that experience entirely. The same sort of thing happened to me when I first stayed in a ryokan with my wife to be. The washitsu just blew my mind as did the whole inn, the food, onsen and it's location. It was the middle of autumn and the koyo (autumn colours) were at its best. For me, the whole experience was quite sublime and is one of my best memories, and my first real taste of traditional Japan.

 

Anyway went to the Nezu museum and saw the exhibition. There was about 75 bowls on display and covered O Ido, Ko Ido and Ao Ido. The Kizaemon was amazing as was the Shibata bowl which were the highlights for me.

 

The Nezu garden behind the museum is always lovely but was extra beautiful and in the middle if koyo. Nezu is by far my favourite museum.

post-15-14196887263149_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cabowen Grand Master

cabowen

Posted
Posted
Having grown up on the South Side of Chicago next to a forest preserve I remember these colors well. Unfortunately, we do not have this in South Florida. We also don't have -20 oF... :D

 

You also don't have deep dish pizza or italian beef sandwiches....Life is just one big tradeoff I guess! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Henry Wilson Veteran

Henry Wilson

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi KM

 

In the display, not all cups are matched with a daimyo but some are. The catalogue will probably have such information. If it does, it is in the Japanese text which I have yet to look at properly. The discouraging thing is that they have not included furigana to help reading the kanji which I find quite off putting.

 

The only thing that struck me as odd in the display was the way the bowls are secured to stop them from toppling. Two pieces of fish line across the top of the bowl are used to fasten it to the display surface. The lines cast a fine shadow which initially looks like big long cracks cutting he bowl in 4. You get used to it, but I found this quite distracting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...