Kōsai Itome Hyō-gata Lacquer Tea Caddy — Thread-Line Gourd Usuchaki

A gourd-shaped tea caddy by Kōsai, rendered in itome (thread-line) lacquer technique. The horizontal ridged lines encircle the double-gourd silhouette — each line laid with the density of intention that defines accomplished urushi craftsmanship. This Japanese lacquer natsume carries the quiet cultural weight of chanoyu tradition, where form and surface exist in dialogue.

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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]

• Artist: Kōsai (広斎)
• Form: Hyō-gata (gourd-shaped) usuchaki / chūnatsume
• Technique: Itome-nuri — continuous thread-line ridges across the entire body, creating a tactile, textile-like surface
• Material: Wood core with urushi lacquer; deep reddish-brown exterior, black lacquer interior
• Dimensions: Approx. H 7.3 cm × D 6.5 cm
• Era: Shōwa–Heisei period
• Condition: Excellent — interior black lacquer clean and well-maintained, exterior ridges crisp and intact
• Box: Tomobako (artist's signed box) inscribed "糸目瓢茶器" with red seal
• SKU: C1038

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🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]

The hyō-gata — the gourd silhouette — is among the oldest symbolic forms in Japanese material culture. Its pinched waist creates two chambers from a single body, an emblem of containment and abundance held in tension. When Kōsai chose this form for a thin-tea caddy, the decision was not decorative. It was structural: the gourd's organic logic meets the discipline of chanoyu.

Itome-nuri demands a particular patience. Each horizontal ridge is built up through repeated lacquer application, the surface gaining its presence through accumulation rather than gesture. The result is a vessel that speaks through texture — the eye reads pattern, the hand reads rhythm. In the tearoom, where every object is encountered through touch before it is seen, this matters.

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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]

Kōsai's authorship is confirmed by the tomobako inscription and seal. The reddish-brown tone of the exterior lacquer — sometimes called shunkei or tame-nuri depending on the underlayer — allows the itome ridges to catch light unevenly, shifting the surface between matte and low sheen as the caddy is turned in the hand. This is urushi doing what only urushi can: responding to the viewer's movement.

The interior black lacquer is pristine, indicating careful stewardship. The lid seats firmly with the slight resistance that signals proper fit. As a chūnatsume, this caddy occupies the middle ground of tea-caddy hierarchy — appropriate for both formal and informal thin-tea gatherings, versatile across seasons.

For the practitioner, this is a vessel that earns its place in the tokonoma or the temae. For the collector, it is a contained study in what urushi technique achieves when ambition is held in restraint.

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🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]

【作家】広斎
【形状】糸目瓢型薄茶器（中棗）
【技法】糸目塗 — 器全体に水平の細い隆起線を連続して施す技法。触覚的で織物のような表面質感を生む
【素材】木胎に漆塗。外面は深い赤褐色漆、内面は黒漆
【寸法】約 高7.3cm × 径6.5cm
【時代】昭和〜平成
【状態】優良 — 内部黒漆は清潔で手入れが行き届き、外面の糸目は鮮明
【箱】共箱（「糸目瓢茶器」銘、朱印あり）

瓢箪形は日本の器物文化において最も古い象徴的造形のひとつです。くびれが一つの体から二つの空間を生み出す — 収容と豊穣が静かに拮抗する形。広斎がこの造形を薄茶器に選んだことは、茶の湯の規律と有機的な自然造形との対話を意図したものです。

糸目塗は独特の忍耐を要する技法です。一本一本の隆起線が漆の繰り返しの塗り重ねによって築かれ、表面は所作ではなく蓄積によってその存在感を獲得します。茶室において、すべての道具がまず手で出会い、次に目で確認される場において、この触覚的な質感は本質的な意味を持ちます。

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🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials