Natsume Japanese Tea Caddy In Shikuryo Lacquer - Japan

Tea box, natsume, for the macha tea of the tea ceremony.

In black lacquered wood with fubata aoi (asaret) leaf decorations in gold makie lacquer and nashiji.

For the tea ceremony, the tea master chooses his objects according to the seasons, guests, events...

Artist: Shikuryo, from Yamanaka
Japan, 7 x 7 cm.

With its original box signed by the artist.

The fubata aoi plant is attached to one of Kyoto's 3 main festivals: Aoi Matsuri. It is the emblem of Kamo shrines, and was used both as an offering to the gods and to decorate during the festival.

During the Heian period, the asaret was also considered protective.

Its representation can be more or less stylized.

There are stylized 3-leaf variants, used as a family coat of arms. Notably by the Tokugawa clan, a powerful family of shoguns, until the Meiji Restoration (1868). During the Edo period, its use was forbidden.