Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)

Tea caddy

Origin: Japan
Period: Edo Period
Material: Ceramic
Size: H: 10.1 cm W: 4.0 cm D: 3.2 cm

This gentleman
grows and grows
auspiciously;
learn from it and
you will ever flourish

trans. John Stevens

Inscription on the box (lid):
蓮月尼作 made by the nun Rengetsu (Rengetsu ni saku)
茶入 tea container (chaire)
若竹和歌 Bamboo poem

back:
昭和壬午 Showa mizunoe-uma (=1942)
夏日 Summer day (Natsu nichi)
洛北神光院 North Kyoto, Jinko-in (Temple)
一水翁 old man Issui (Issui o), and seal

Certificate box (Kanteibako 鑑定箱): Issui, 1942
Issui (1863-1945) was the abbot of Jinko-in temple in Kyoto.

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.76, ill. p.64.

Inv.no.: R1438
Availability: Sold to: Private Collection, Switzerland