Tea Scoop (Chagō) in the Shape of a Cicada

1891

Not on view

This bamboo scoop was used to transfer the appropriate amount of sencha tea from a larger jar to the small ceramic teapot. The work is signed by Hayakawa Shōkosai I and, as noted in the inscription, was executed when the artist was seventy-six. Whereas most tea scoops have a simple, half-cylinder shape, Shōkosai playfully converted this one into a small “sculpture” representing a cicada, associated with immortality and rebirth.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

初代早川尚古斎作　蝉形茶合
Title: Tea Scoop (Chagō) in the Shape of a Cicada
Artist: Hayakawa Shōkosai I (Japanese, 1815–1897)
Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
Date: 1891
Culture: Japan
Medium: Bamboo
Dimensions: H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); W. 2 in. (5.1 cm); L. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)
Classification: Bamboo
Credit Line: Purchase, Diane and Arthur Abbey Gift, 2022
Object Number: 2022.12
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Hayakawa Shōkosai I

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Karamono-Style Flower Basket (Hanakago), Hayakawa Shōkosai I Japanese, Timber bamboo and rattan, Japan — Karamono-Style Flower Basket (Hanakago)
Hayakawa Shōkosai I
ca. 1870s–80s

Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

Tea Scoop (Chashaku), Sen no Rikyū Japanese, Bent and carved bamboo, Japan — Tea Scoop (Chashaku)
Attributed to Sen no Rikyū
1580s

Bowler Hat, Hayakawa Shōkosai I Japanese, Timber bamboo, rattan, and brocaded silk, Japan — Bowler Hat
Hayakawa Shōkosai I
ca. 1880s–90s

Shō, Bamboo wood, metal, Japanese — Shō
Japanese
19th century

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