Bamboo tea scoop in the shape of a cicada

This signed bamboo tea scoop was made by Hayakawa Shōkosai I for sencha tea. It is dated 1891, and signed by Shōkosai at the age of 76. The tea scoop (charyo) is used to take out tea leaves from a larger tea jar, measure the amount, and put the leaves into the small ceramic tea pot. Most charyo are made of bamboo, but they can be made of wood, ivory, or semi-precious stones as well. Most of them have a simple, half-cylinder shape, but Shōkosai playfully converted the scoop into a small “sculpture” representing a cicada. In ancient China, carved jade cicadas were placed on the tongues of the dead before burial, evoking transcendence and eternal life. In Japan, cicadas also represent longevity and are associated with summer.

In contrast to wabi-cha, for which matcha is whipped with hot water in a teabowl, in the sencha tea ceremony high-quality loose green tea leaves (typically gyokuro, the most expensive type) are steeped at a low temperature, a style of brewing popularized in China during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The tea is then served in small Chinese-style pots using a set of miniature cups and trays. The sencha tea ceremony was introduced to Japan by Ingen Ryūki (Yinyuan Longqi, 1592–1673), founder of the Ōbaku sect of Zen Buddhism, and the Ōbaku monk Baisao (1675–1763), a Kyoto tea merchant who became the first sencha master. The study and interpretation of Chinese culture were especially popular in the Kyoto-Osaka region, where, accordingly, there was a revival of interest in fine karamono (Chinese-style) objects, including bamboo works. Shōkosai I, based in Kansai, concentrated for the most part on making tea utensils, reflecting the needs of the literati and other practitioners amid the period’s thriving sencha culture. Shōkosai is believed to be the first basket master craftsman to sign his name on his compositions.