Tea Utensils: Caddies, Scoops and the Tools of the Tea Room
The Japanese tea ceremony uses a small set of carefully chosen objects, chadōgu. Each has a practical purpose, but each is also studied and admired by the guests. Over five centuries tea masters have shaped these objects, named them and written on their boxes, and they now form one of the richest areas of Japanese collecting.
Tea caddies
- Chaire. A small ceramic jar with an ivory-coloured lid, used for the thick tea served in formal gatherings. It is kept in a silk pouch, shifuku, often made from rare historic fabrics. Famous old chaire were treasured like jewels by warlords.
- Natsume. A lacquer caddy for thin tea, named after the jujube fruit its shape resembles. Plain black, red or decorated with maki-e, it is the most common caddy in everyday practice.
Scoop and whisk
The tea scoop, chashaku, is a slim strip of bamboo bent at the tip. Tea masters often carved their own and gave them poetic names, mei, written on the bamboo tube in which the scoop is kept. A scoop by a celebrated master, with its signed tube and box, can be among the most valuable objects in a tea room. The whisk, chasen, is cut from a single piece of bamboo, mostly in Takayama in Nara. Whisks wear out and are replaced, so old ones are seldom collected.
Water and fire
- Mizusashi. The fresh-water jar, in ceramic, lacquer or metal, with a lid.
- Kensui. The waste-water bowl.
- Futaoki. The lid rest for the kettle lid and ladle, often a tiny sculpture in bamboo, ceramic or metal.
- Hishaku. The bamboo ladle.
- Kama. The iron kettle, heated over a portable brazier in summer or a sunken hearth in winter.
Boxes and favourites
Box inscriptions, hakogaki, are central to tea utensils. An inscription by the head, iemoto, of one of the major schools of tea, such as Omotesenke, Urasenke or Mushakōjisenke, confirms the object's quality and suitability for the tea room. Objects made to a tea master's preference are called konomi, favourites, and they are often reproduced over generations by the same family of craftsmen.
Collecting tips
- Keep every box, cloth, tube and paper together. Separated, an object loses much of its record and value.
- Check lacquer for wear at the rims, and ceramics for chips at the mouth and foot.
- Silk pouches fade and fray. Original pouches in good condition are a bonus.
- Seasonal motifs matter: utensils are chosen to suit the month, so a piece with a clear seasonal theme is easy to use.