Calligraphy for the Tea Ceremony
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
You might like these pieces
Details about the sold piece
- Height 186 cm
- Width 40 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Jikusaki Wood
- Material Honshi Paper
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku – harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility: these four characters form the central motif of the Japanese tea ceremony and were rendered here in a bold, flowing hand on light-colored paper. The brush moves with visible momentum from character to character, individual strokes flowing into one another and lending the entire composition a remarkable vitality.
The slightly frayed line endings and the varying ink intensity reveal the practiced hand of a calligrapher who has evidently written these four terms often, without losing any spontaneous force in the process. A small signature and two red seals at the left edge of the work complete the piece. Scattered fine traces of age in the paper underscore the authentic, time-worn character of this piece.
The calligraphy on paper is framed by a warm, gold-colored silk border with a delicate vine pattern and dates to the Shôwa period. As a maxim for the tea ceremony, this text is among the best-known formulas of Japanese aesthetics and is thus particularly suited to collectors interested in the quiet, focused world of chanoyu.
