Natsume Iro-e Makie Ō-Natsume with Autumn Grasses (Akikusa)

A tea container (Ō-Natsume, large natsume) lacquered in deep reddish-brown, over the walls of which bellflowers and asters climb in vivid blue, violet, and green – a colorful design that clearly departs from the otherwise mostly gold-toned Natsume motifs. The blossoms are executed in luminous enamel-lacquer colors, while fine green blades of grass connect the individual plant parts with one another, lending the composition additional cohesion.

Such colorful autumn-flower designs featuring bellflower and aster represent, in Japanese visual language, the wildflowers of late summer and early autumn, conveying a light-hearted, natural cheerfulness.

The container comes in a wooden box signed by the master 雅峰 (Gahō), whose inscription identifies it as a copy of a design favored by Sokuchūsai, the 13th grand master of the Omotesenke school (Sokuchūsai-konomi-utsushi), and is suitable both for the tea ceremony and as a colorful collector's piece.