A black lacquer surface alive with morning — gold dew suspended on bamboo grass, each drop catching imagined light. Nakamura Souin renders the tsuyu-zasa (dew on bamboo) motif with a precision that collapses distance between maker and season. The nashiji (pear-skin) ground of each leaf gives texture where flatness would have been easy. This is a chu-natsume tea caddy that earns its place in the alcove.
[ DETAILS ] • Form: Chu-natsume (medium natsume tea caddy) • Decoration: Tsuyu-zasa (dew on bamboo grass) gold maki-e on black lacquer; nashiji technique on leaf surfaces • Artist: Nakamura Souin • Provenance: Signed wooden tomobako (共箱) inscribed 露笹 中棗 宗尹 • Condition: Good antique condition consistent with careful use
[ CULTURAL CONTEXT ] The tsuyu-zasa motif — dew on bamboo grass — belongs to autumn's quieter vocabulary. It is not a declaration but an observation: the night has passed, the grass remembers. In chado (the way of tea), motifs chosen for natsume carry seasonal and poetic weight. Zasa bamboo grass appears in classical poetry as a symbol of quiet endurance; the dew upon it is transience made visible. To handle this caddy is to participate in that observation.
Nakamura Souin worked in the tradition of Kyoto maki-e lacquerware, where the nashiji technique — scattering fine gold powder beneath layers of transparent lacquer — creates a depth that changes with the angle of light. The leaves do not simply reflect; they glow from within.
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
