Single-cut (Ichijūgiri) Flower Container, “Yoshinoyama” (Mount Yoshino)
Sen Sōtan Japanese
Not on view
This rustic-looking flower container, cut from timber bamboo, is the earliest dated piece in the Abbey Collection. Its maker, Sōtan, was a grandson of the revered Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), one of the Momoyama period’s groundbreaking masters of the tea ceremony. The container’s "ichijūgiri” form—a vase with the opening on one side to enable it to be hung on a wall or post—is well suited to flower arrangements displayed for the tea ceremony, often next to or within the tokonoma alcove of a tea room. The texture and color tones of the bamboo medium remain in their natural state, and the form reflects the wabi-cha aesthetics, the style of tea ceremony associated with Sen no Rikyū, emphasizing simplicity, the use of local wares, and an absence of elaborately ornamented Chinese vessels.
