A tame-nuri o-natsume by Kawakamie Koho of Yamanaka — the amber-dark lacquer ground holding cascading bursts of chrysanthemum and karamatsu pine-needle maki-e in fine gold. Each radiating bloom is composed of individual brushstrokes, the density of the design accumulating across lid and body into something that reads less like decoration than weather — a field of light caught in lacquer.
For Japanese tea ceremony (chado), the natsume is the vessel that holds the powdered tea (matcha) during the gathering. Its form and surface speak directly to the season, the host's intention, the mood of the room. A caddy of this presence commands the center of the tea space.
Kawakami Koho was a Yamanaka lacquer artist working in the tradition of that region's highly refined maki-e — a lineage producing some of Japan's most technically precise decorative lacquerwork. The Yamanaka area of Ishikawa Prefecture has been the center of Japanese lathe-turned lacquerware for over 400 years.
The chrysanthemum (kiku) carries imperial association in Japan, but in the tea room it moves into a quieter register — the autumn bloom, the geometry of nature, the flower that opens when most others have closed. Paired with karamatsu pine needles, the motif holds both the elegance of the court and the austerity of the mountain.
The tame-nuri (溜塗) technique — applying transparent lacquer over a darker foundation — produces the amber-red depth visible here, a warmth that deepens with handling and age.
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