Fukiage Bunrin
吹上文琳
Rank
Chaire Type
Historical Period
Current Owner / Collection
Denrai
Chukomeibutsu 中興名物
Karamono bunrin chaire 唐物文琳茶入
Yuan Dynasty 元時代
The Gotoh Museum 五島美術館
Kobori Enshu 小堀遠州 – Sakai Soga 酒井宗雅 – Matsudaira Fumai 松平不昧 – Gotoh Keita 五島慶太 – The Gotoh Museum 五島美術館
Origin of Name and Stories
Kobori Enshu named this chaire Fukiage as the scenery reminded him of a Kokinshu poem (KKS 272) composed by Sugawara no Michizane (845–903):
秋風の
吹上げに立てる
白菊は
それかあらぬか
波のよするか
akikaze no
fukiage ni tateru
shiragiku wa
sore ka aranu ka
nami no yosuru ka
The autumn wind
blows white chrysanthemums
up into the air—
are they really flowers,
or are waves rolling in?
After the chaire left Enshu’s care, its whereabouts became unknown. Some time later Sakai Soga acquired the piece. In April 1789, Soga and his tea teacher, Matsudaira Fumai, crossed paths while traveling between Edo and their respective domains, a journey required of all daimyo every other year by order of the Tokugawa shogunate (sankinkotai). Soga planned a tea gathering where he gave the chaire to Fumai.
Physical Description
Although this chaire is called bunrin, meaning apple-shaped, the stature of this piece is actually slightly taller than a classic bunrin, with a clear neck and a sharp eversion of the lip. Brown and tan colored speckles, reminiscent of the speckles on a quail’s body, cover the chaire. Black and brown glaze runs down from the chaire’s shoulder over the speckled body, converging in a drip that extends just beyond the edge of the glaze to stop at the base of the chaire. This scenery creates a fine front orientation.
Height: 6.3 cm
Weight: 52.9 g
Mouth diameter: 1.9 cm
Body diameter: 5.5 cm
Base diameter: 1.8 cm
Accompanying items
Lid
Shifuku
Ivory
Two (From left to right)
Hakugyoku donsu 白極緞子
Shijira kanto しじら間道
Hikiya
Hikiyabukuro
Box inscriptions
Ivory
White silk
Four
Inner box for the chaire: 吹上 Fukiage in Kobori Enshū’s hand (below left)
Outer box for the chaire: 吹上 文琳 Fukiage Bunrin in Matsudaira Fumai’s hand (below right)
Box for the ivory lid: 吹上 蓋 Fukiage Futa in Matsudaira Fumai’s hand
Box for the shifuku: 吹上文琳 袋 Fukiage Bunrin Fukuro in Matsudaira Fumai’s hand.
Research and Image Sources
The Gotoh Museum
Chadogu no sekai series, volume 5 (Tankosha)
Chado bijutsu kansho jiten (Tankosha)
Meibutsu chaire denrai binran (Tankosha)
Meibutsu chaire no monogatari (Tankosha)
