Tea bowl named Mino-game ("Mossy tailed tortoise") attributed to Kōetsu in the Freer Gallery collection.
In the epic Japanese novel Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji, first serialized in Asahi Shimbun in the 1930s, the title character (a famed historical samurai) attempts to get his sword polished by a master of that art and is told (as translated by Charles S. Terry):
"Since I try to abide by my master's teachings, I refuse to polish the swords of samurai who take pleasure in killing people."
"Well you have a point there. But tell me who is this master of yours?"
"That's written on the sign too. I studied in the House of Hon'ami, under Hon'ami Kōetsu himself." Kosuke squared his shoulders proudly as he uttered his master's name.
This scene, although from a fictional story, shows the respect with which the craftsman Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558-1637) is regarded in Japan, where his skill not only in the family trade of sword polishing but also calligraphy, pottery, and lacquerware are esteemed. Kōetsu was at the center of a creative renaissance in early seventeenth century Kyoto that also included tea master Furuta Oribe (1544?-1615) and potter Raku Dōnyū (1599-1656). The Japanese government has designated two objects by Kōetsu, a lacquer writing box and a tea bowl, as National Treasures which may not leave the country.
In the early 20th century, Masuda Takashi, founder of the Mitsui industrial empire, art collector, and Kōetsu enthusiast, gave the credit for bringing Kōetsu to the attention of the western world to Charles Lang Freer, the founder of the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art. The Freer collection includes several dozen objects by or attributed to Kōetsu; the Freer-Sackler Library has many related resources for continuing research.
—Mike Smith
Selected Bibliography:
The arts of Hon'ami Kōetsu. Felice Fischer; with essays and catalogue entries by Edward Cranston [et. al.]. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000.
Pitelka, Morgan. Handmade culture: Raku potters, patrons, and tea practitioners in Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.
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