White lacquer natsume tea caddy by Miyata Sokei — kingfisher maki-e natsume tea caddy, white urushi lacquer chaire, kawasemi maki-e tea container, Japanese lacquer tea ceremony caddy, natsume with bird design, signed tea caddy with box, ko-natsume lacquerware, thin tea ceremony utensil, Japanese maki-e artist signed work.
A kingfisher alights among river reeds. Suspended in white lacquer, its feathers rendered in gold and colored pigment with the precision of a held breath. The form is a classic natsume — slightly compressed, perfectly weighted for the hand that lifts and turns it in temae.
Height: approx. 7 cm | Diameter: approx. 6.7 cm Medium natsume (chu-natsume) for usucha Signed wooden box (tomobako) with purple silk cord Condition: Excellent — no chips, no cracks
Natsume are named for the jujube fruit. The form has been refined over centuries for a single purpose: to hold thin tea with quiet ceremony. White urushi — shiro-urushi — is among the most demanding grounds to achieve. It requires multiple coats of refined lacquer, each cured in controlled humidity, before the maki-e artist begins.
Kawasemi, the common kingfisher, carries in Japanese aesthetics a specific weight: it is the bird of stillness before motion, of water observed rather than crossed. To paint it in maki-e is to acknowledge the pause within ceremony.
Miyata Sokei works in the tradition of Kyoto lacquer arts, bringing together the demand for technical excellence and the restraint that defines chado aesthetics. This natsume arrived with its original signed wooden box — a continuity of care across the years it has traveled.
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
