Osozakura Katatsuki

遅桜肩衝

Rank

Chaire Type

Historical Period

Current Owner / Collection

Denrai

Omeibutsu 大名物,  Ryuei gomotsu 柳営御物
Kansaku karamono katatsuki chaire 漢作唐物肩衝茶入
Southern Song Dynasty 南宋時代
Mitsui Memorial Museum 三井記念美術館
Ashikaga Yoshimasa 足利義政 – Shinohara Sokyu 篠原宗久 – Todo Takatora 藤堂高虎Gamo Tadasato 蒲生忠郷 – Tokugawa Shogun family 徳川将軍家 – Matsudaira Tadaaki 松平忠明 – Matsudaira Tadahiro 松平忠弘 – Tokugawa Shogun family 徳川将軍家 – Tokugawa Tokumatsu 徳川徳松Tokugawa Shogun family 徳川将軍家 – Muromachi Mitsui family 室町三井家 – Mitsui Memorial Museum 三井記念美術館

Origin of Name and Stories

Osozakura literally means “late cherry blossom.” The name was given by the eighth Ashikaga Shōgun, Yoshimasa, inspired by a poem by Fujiwara Morifusa 藤原盛房 in Kinyoshu 金葉集
(poem 95):

夏山の
青葉交じりの
遅桜
初花よりも
めつらしき哉

natsuyama no
aoba majiri no
osozakura
hatsuhana yori mo
mezurashiki kana

On summer hills,
mingling with green leaves,
late cherry blossoms
even more precious
than the first blooms

With this name, Osozakura, Yoshimasa may have indicated that this chaire replaced his earlier favorite, Hatsuhana, in his affections. Later, these two same chaire became the most famous among the chaire owned by the Tokugawa Shōgun family.

Physical Description

This chaire has a classic katatsuki shape and, like most karamono, is very thinly potted. Compared to the Kitano Katatsuki, the body is more rounded, the mouth wider, the neck taller, and the shoulder more sharply extended. The strongly everted lip is distinct and delicate. Just below the neck, a wide thread-line is incised.  Around the center of the body, faint throwing rings are punctuated by two incised lines. Such double thread-lines are rare. Over a base glaze of purplish hue, a fall of dark amber glaze trails at an angle across the body to the base. The scenery has long been appreciated for its subtle beauty. The relatively high hem of the glaze reveals the dark, lustrous clay body and the slab-like foot.

1ク_1_1 唐物肩衝茶入 銘遅桜-resize

Height: 8.9 cm            
Weight: 144 g   
Mouth diameter: 4.8 cm   
Body diameter: 8.0 cm   
Base diameter: 4.1 cm    
 

Accompanying items

Lid
Shifuku

Ivory
Two (From left to right)

Shima kanto縞間道
Asagiji otori marumon donsu浅葱地鳳丸紋緞子

Hikiya

Hikiyabukuro

Kuronuri harigami kakitsuke 黒塗張紙書付, black lacquer with inscription on pasted paper
Obotan donsu 大牡丹緞子

Box inscriptions

Four 
From left to right
Inner box: white paulownia with inscription, 遅桜肩衝御茶入 Osozakura katatsuki onchaire
Outer box: black lacquer with gold inscription, 遅桜肩衝 Osozakura katatsuki
Box for shifuku: white paulownia with inscription, 遅桜御茶入袋二 Osozakura onchaire
fukuro futatsu
White paulownia box for the entire set: inscription inside the lid by Kobori Sokei

Accompanying documents
Yuzurijo, a letter of bestowal from the Tokugawa family

Research and Image Sources   
Mitsui Memorial Museum
Chado bijutsu kansho jiten (Tankosha)
Chadogu no sekai, vol. 5 (Tankosha)

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