Large mizusashi in the shape of a sazae shell

Kyoto, Kyō-yaki tea tradition, 19th century

Large mizusashi in the shape of a sazae shell, treated with remarkable plastic vigor and entirely hand-formed. The piece translates with rare intensity the twists, projections, points, and irregularities of the natural shell into a ceramic form where the observation of the marine world becomes sculptural invention. By its dimensions, by the amplitude of its modeling, and by the strength of its silhouette, it belongs to that category of tea utensils that impose their presence as true ceremonial works of art.

The major interest of the object lies in its accomplished transformation into a mizusashi. The lacquered lid with brown reflections, made for a profoundly irregular opening, fits with exceptional precision the cuts, reliefs, and variations in height of the rim. This highly skillful adjustment gives the whole a rare cohesion and introduces the marine form into the world of chanoyu without altering its organic energy. The piece thus unites the naturalism of the shell, the virtuosity of technical adaptation, and the discreet nobility of a utensil intended for the tea space. The old restorations visible on two points contribute to its material history and testify to the care taken in its preservation.

The work is fully embedded in the world of Kyoto, where the Kyō-yaki / Kiyomizu-yaki tradition gave tea objects a central place and cultivated with singular refinement forms inspired by nature. From the 17th century, this sensibility found a masterful expression in the work of Nonomura Ninsei. His famous Iroe horagai kōro, preserved at Seikadō, shows how Kyoto ceramics already knew how to make the seashell a motif of high formal invention, driven by a tea culture attentive to the poetry of forms, visual surprise, and the elegance of the crafted object.

In this lineage, this 19th-century mizusashi stands out for the unusual breadth of its format and the quality of its design. It embodies with uncommon force the Kyoto taste for free-form tea objects, where nature is captured, interpreted, and elevated to the rank of a precious utensil.

Dimensions: 24 × 22 × h. 17.5 cm.