Kakemono Calligraphy for the Tea Ceremony

Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku – harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility: these four characters form the central motif of the Japanese tea ceremony and were rendered here in a bold, flowing hand on light-colored paper. The brush moves with visible momentum from character to character, individual strokes flowing into one another and lending the entire composition a remarkable vitality.

The slightly frayed line endings and the varying ink intensity reveal the practiced hand of a calligrapher who has evidently written these four terms often, without losing any spontaneous force in the process. A small signature and two red seals at the left edge of the work complete the piece. Scattered fine traces of age in the paper underscore the authentic, time-worn character of this piece.

The calligraphy on paper is framed by a warm, gold-colored silk border with a delicate vine pattern and dates to the Shôwa period. As a maxim for the tea ceremony, this text is among the best-known formulas of Japanese aesthetics and is thus particularly suited to collectors interested in the quiet, focused world of chanoyu.