Chashaku Set, Tea Scoop Set: Case

A wide, tubular case with one flat side that holds an individual chashaku. There is an individual inscription on the flat side that reads, “Ichio.” If this is the carver’s signature, there is little information available about who they were. The inclusion of these kinds of inscriptions began in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) with the renowned tea master Sen no Rikyū. His changes to the chashaku and case correlated with evolving chanoyu philosophies that placed emphasis on expressing identity. With these new ideas, cases made in his style now included an inscription to define uniqueness, such as a poem, customer name, artist signature, or location created.

Chiba, Kaeko. The Japanese Tea Ceremony : An Introduction. Abingdon, Oxon, England;
Routledge, 2023.
Corbett, Rebecca. “Crafting Identity as a Tea Practitioner in Early Modern Japan: Ōtagaki

Rengetsu and Tagami Kikusha.” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal, no. 47 (2014): 3–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26401941.

Fujioka, Ryōichi, and Louise Allison Cort. Tea Ceremony Utensils. First edition. New York ; Weatherhill/Shibundo, 1973.

Nishida, Kei. “Everything You Need to Know About Matcha Chasyaku (茶杓).” Japanese Green
Tea Co., March 24, 2024.
https://www.japanesegreenteain.com/blogs/green-tea-and-health/everything-you-need-to-know-about-matcha-chasyaku.

“Search the Collection, Collections, Spurlock Museum, U of I,” n.d. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/index.php?advsf=0&q=Chashaku&or=&g=All&Search=Search.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Traditionally Attributed to Sen No Rikyū | Tea Scoop
(Chashaku) | Japan | Edo Period (1615–1868) | the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” n.d. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53437.