Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)

Fresh Water Container (Mizusashi)

Origin: Japan
Period: Edo Period - dated: 1867
Material: Glazed ceramic
Size: H: 15.4 cm W: 14.0 cm D: 13.7 cm

Water container (Mizusashi) from the collection of Satake Taikan.

Living deep in the mountains
I've grown fond of the
solitary sound of the pines;
on days the wind does not blow
how lonely it is!
Rengetsu age 77 (1867)

Translation: John Stevens

Collector's box with inscription on the back of the lid: Fresh water container (mizusashi: 水指), Nun Rengetsu (Rengetsu-ni: 蓮月尼), made by her own hand (jisaku tezukuri: 自作手造), "Yamasato wa"-poem (Yamasato wa no uta: 山里はの歌), June 1975 (Showa kinono-u rokugatsu: 昭和巳卯六月), mae Daitoku Taikan: 前大徳大鑑
Inscription on the label on the lower left side of the box:
Former abbot of Daitoku-ji temple (moto Daitoku ji kancho: 元大徳寺管長), Korin-in subtemple (Korin-in tatchu: 興臨院塔頭), Satake Daikan Osho: 佐竹大鑑和尚 Satake Daikan Osho
Inscription (by the same hand) on the label on the upper right side of the box: Mizusashi receptacle (水指器: Mizusashi utsuwa), End of Edo/early Meiji (Bakumatsu Meiji hajime: 幕末明治初), Handmade by the nun Otagaki Rengetsu (Otagaki Rengetsu-ni jisaku tsukuri: 太田垣蓮月尼自作造), Yamasato wa... (Poem), 山里は松の声のみききなれて.

Published: Black robe white mist: art of the Japanese Buddhist nun Rengetsu, National Gallery of Australia exhibition catalogue, Melanie Eastburn, Lucie Folan, Robyn Maxwell (ed.), 2007, no.53, ill. p.44.

Inv.no.: R1394
Availability: Sold to: Private Collection, Iceland