[Tea utensils/tea ceremony tools] Blue and white auspicious play ring by Kotoge Tanzan

●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.
What is Shonzui? "Sometsuke" refers to white pottery made by painting with pigments such as gosu and then applying a transparent glaze and firing it, and the technique for doing so. And "Shozui" refers to the tortoiseshell and auspicious patterns themselves, which were produced in Jingdezhen around the end of the Ming Dynasty in China, and those made with the dyeing technique.
This is a specific order from Japan, and features meticulously drawn circular patterns and geometric shapes.

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Size: Water pitcher: approx. diameter 16.2cm x height excluding lid 16.3cm
Overall height approx. 20.3cm
Ladle stand (approx. 5.5cm in diameter x 10.2cm in diameter x 16.2cm in height)
Kensui (approx. diameter 15 x height 8 cm)
Lid holder (approx. diameter 5.5 x height 5.3 cm)
Artist: Tanzan Kotoge (Tanzan Kiln)
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[(Real name: Katsuyoshi)] Born in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture in 1946
In 1974, the Tanzan Kiln was opened in Uji Coal Mine.
He is the nephew of the master craftsman of Shimizu, Makatsu Kosai, and studied under Kosai, as well as under Living National Treasure Mashiko ware craftsman Shimaoka Tatsuzo.
Selected for the Japanese Traditional Crafts Kinki Exhibition 18 times in a row
Selected for the Kyoto Prefectural Crafts and Arts Exhibition 10 times
Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition 7 times
Won the Mayor's Award twice at the Kyoyaki and Kiyomizuyaki Exhibition
In 1981, he became a regular member of the Japan Crafts Association.
The pottery stamps include "Katsuyoshi made", "Tanzan", "Tanzan kiln", etc.
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Box: Wooden box