[Tea utensils/tea ceremony tools] Kara-ko (karakone) Rikyu favorite copy by Masamitsu Kikuchi

●Kaigu refers to a complete set of clothing, weapons, horse equipment, etc.
In addition, the four essential utensils used in the tea ceremony are a water jar, a ladle stand, a water container, and a lid rest, and are used to display on a daisu or long board.
It was brought to Japan by the Rinzai sect monk Nanpo Shomyo when he returned from Song, and the most famous example of this is the "Kangan Kaigu" (Chinese copperware set) owned by Sen no Rikyu.
At that time, most were made from copper.
Today's ceramic utensils first appeared at the end of the Edo period, but at the time they were still unfamiliar and not widely accepted by the people.
It was only after the Meiji period that they began to be widely distributed, and when the head of each school began to make his or her own "favourite items", the "Ryureishiki" style popularised by the 11th head of the Urasenke school, Gengensai, adopted the principle of using ceramic utensils, so they became indispensable to the early modern tea ceremony.
The "Ryureishiki" is one of the new tea ceremony cultures established by Gengensai in order to modernize the tea ceremony.
This is very different from traditional tea ceremonies, as tea is prepared using a desk and chair, and is known as chair tea ceremony.
It is said that the origins of this tea ceremony date back to the 1st Kyoto Exposition, held in Kyoto in 1871, when Gengensai came up with the idea to allow foreign guests to sit down and drink tea.
The water jar, water pitcher and lid rest can also be used separately.

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Size: Water jar (approx. diameter 18.6 x height excluding lid 17 cm)
Ladle stand (approx. diameter 5.6 x diameter 9.8 x height 17.6cm)
Kensui (approx. diameter 12.6 x height 8.9cm)
Lid holder (approx. diameter 5.7 x height 5cm)
Material: Copper
Author: Masamitsu Kikuchi
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Kettle maker
He studied under Takahashi Keisuke and is a kettle maker living in Yamagata.
An artist who inherits the tradition of Oshu Yamagata casting
Born January 19, 1937 in Yamagata Prefecture
Since his first selection at the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition in 1973, he has been selected more than 10 times.
Received the Japan Crafts World Tokyo Branch Award at the 5th Traditional Crafts Musashino Store
He has been selected 12 times for the Japanese Traditional Crafts Metalwork Exhibition.
In 1982, he was certified as a Japanese traditional craftsman.
Full member, Japan Crafts Association
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Box: Wooden box