Project Description
Objects for everyday use, made beautifully– that’s “mingei”. We all use containers, and here are some examples from the collection.
Japanese Caste Iron Tea Pot
A very precious item in the collection, given to me by dear friend Matsunaga Minae, now in her late 80’s, living in Tokyo. Cast iron chagama set, with hibachi on the bottom, filled with sand and iron support under the kettle for boiling the water for tea. My wife and I first saw it in Matsunaga-san’s tiny apartment, where she performed a mini tea ceremony for us. Years later, no longer comfortable bending and kneeling as required for Japanese traditional tea preparation, she wanted us to have it… Any more questions about why it’s a treasure to us?
What an example of mingei! Japanese cast iron tea pot. Somebody had to create a mold that, when filled with molten iron, would create this. Hurrah for patternmakers throughout the world.
Click on any one of the images below to see that image full size.
Chinese Yi-Xing Tea Pot
This is a Chinese Yi-Xing tea pot. Very unusual because of how big it is, and how simple. Most of them are very small, with a lot of fancy decoration on the surface that has no function. For those reasons this one really speaks to me, and the best part is that it was given to me by a shop in Monterey for the simple reason that it was unusable–completely cracked at the bottom. However, with a little care and some epoxy, the two sides were so cleanly broken that they came together with no leakage. I love using it and am most proud of the fact that I brought it back to life. Come on baseball fans– go for it!
Additional Tea Pots. Again, click on an image to see it full size.
Elegant little table I found in a small 2nd hand shop in Kochi on the island of Shikoku, Japan.