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Riding Ox Zen Maki-e Natsume — Hounsai Style, Sasaki Reiho
Riding Ox Zen Maki-e Natsume — Hounsai Style, Sasaki Reiho
Regular price
Dhs. 1,004.00 AED
Regular price
Sale price
Dhs. 1,004.00 AED
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Experience authentic Japanese tea culture with this Riding Ox Zen Maki-e Natsume. This Japanese Tea Caddy serves as a Hounsai Konomi Lacquerwork and Urasenke Tea Utensil, featuring Zen Ox-Herding Maki-e and Gold Plum Blossom Design—a must-have for any Art Collector seeking Buddhist Tea Ceremony Art and Traditional Lacquerware.
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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]
• Artist: Sasaki Reiho (佐々木麗峰)
• Technique: Maki-e (蒔絵) — gold and red lacquer on black urushi
• Era: 2000s
• Origin: Japan
• Dimensions: Approx. 6.5 cm × 6.5 cm (2.6" × 2.6")
• Box: Wooden storage box
• Condition: Good — minor signs of age consistent with use in tea practice
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🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]
The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures trace a Zen practitioner's journey from seeking the ox — the true self — to riding it home in ease. The sixth picture, "Riding the Ox Home," depicts the moment when struggle dissolves into harmony. The practitioner no longer leads; the ox no longer resists. They move together. In tea, this is the state every host aspires to: an effortlessness born from years of discipline.
Hounsai — Sen Soshitsu XV — chose this image for a reason. As the leader who brought Urasenke tea to the world, he understood that mastery is not the absence of the ox but the willingness to sit quietly on its back. A konomi-utushi (好写) piece carries the aesthetic authority of the grand master's eye: Sasaki Reiho did not merely copy a design but channeled a sensibility.
The plum blossoms encircling the body ground the Zen parable in seasonal reality. Plum blooms in the cold — the first flower to break through winter — and in tea culture signals perseverance, renewal, and the promise that warmth follows patience.
*"The rider plays a flute. The ox knows the way. Neither hurries. Neither arrives."*
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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]
**Ten Ox-Herding Pictures (十牛図)**: Originating in 12th-century Song Dynasty China and refined by Japanese Zen masters, this series of ten images maps the stages of enlightenment. "Riding the Ox Home" — the sixth stage — represents the integration of insight into daily life. Its presence on a tea utensil is not decorative but pedagogical: every preparation of tea reenacts the journey.
**Hounsai Konomi (鵬雲斎好)**: When a grand master designates a "konomi" — a preferred design — it becomes part of the Urasenke canon. Artisans granted permission to produce konomi-utushi work within strict aesthetic parameters while bringing their own technical skill. The designation signals that the piece belongs to a lineage, not merely a market.
**Sasaki Reiho (佐々木麗峰)**: A maki-e lacquer artisan recognized for work within the tea ceremony tradition. Reiho's technique balances painterly warmth — visible in the red and gold tones of the ox-riding figure — with the precision demanded by lacquer as a medium. Each layer must cure before the next is applied; patience is built into the process.
**Plum Blossom Symbolism (梅)**: In East Asian art, the plum blossom occupies the position of "first among flowers." It appears alongside bamboo and pine as one of the Three Friends of Winter (歳寒三友) — symbols of integrity under pressure. On this natsume, the plum grounds the Zen narrative in the natural world, connecting spiritual seeking with seasonal observation.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]
【基本情報】
• 作家：佐々木麗峰
• 技法：蒔絵（金・朱漆、黒漆地）
• 時代：2000年代
• 産地：日本
• 寸法：約6.5cm × 6.5cm
• 付属：木箱
• 状態：良好 — 茶道使用に伴う経年あり
【解説】
十牛図の第六図「騎牛帰家」を蓋に、金蒔絵の梅花を胴に配した棗です。裏千家十五代・鵬雲斎宗匠の好みを写した作品で、蒔絵師・佐々木麗峰の手によるものです。
騎牛の図は、悟りへの道程において修行者と牛（真の自己）が一体となる境地を描きます。茶の湯においてもまた、点前の稽古を重ねた先に訪れる「無理のない自然体」こそが目指すべき姿であり、この意匠はその精神を静かに伝えています。
胴部の梅花は冬の厳しさの中で最初に花開く生命力の象徴です。禅の精神性と季節の美意識が一碗の中で出会う——鵬雲斎好みの真髄がここにあります。
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
*The ox walks home through plum blossoms. The rider has forgotten the question. The answer carries them both.*
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]
• Artist: Sasaki Reiho (佐々木麗峰)
• Technique: Maki-e (蒔絵) — gold and red lacquer on black urushi
• Era: 2000s
• Origin: Japan
• Dimensions: Approx. 6.5 cm × 6.5 cm (2.6" × 2.6")
• Box: Wooden storage box
• Condition: Good — minor signs of age consistent with use in tea practice
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]
The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures trace a Zen practitioner's journey from seeking the ox — the true self — to riding it home in ease. The sixth picture, "Riding the Ox Home," depicts the moment when struggle dissolves into harmony. The practitioner no longer leads; the ox no longer resists. They move together. In tea, this is the state every host aspires to: an effortlessness born from years of discipline.
Hounsai — Sen Soshitsu XV — chose this image for a reason. As the leader who brought Urasenke tea to the world, he understood that mastery is not the absence of the ox but the willingness to sit quietly on its back. A konomi-utushi (好写) piece carries the aesthetic authority of the grand master's eye: Sasaki Reiho did not merely copy a design but channeled a sensibility.
The plum blossoms encircling the body ground the Zen parable in seasonal reality. Plum blooms in the cold — the first flower to break through winter — and in tea culture signals perseverance, renewal, and the promise that warmth follows patience.
*"The rider plays a flute. The ox knows the way. Neither hurries. Neither arrives."*
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]
**Ten Ox-Herding Pictures (十牛図)**: Originating in 12th-century Song Dynasty China and refined by Japanese Zen masters, this series of ten images maps the stages of enlightenment. "Riding the Ox Home" — the sixth stage — represents the integration of insight into daily life. Its presence on a tea utensil is not decorative but pedagogical: every preparation of tea reenacts the journey.
**Hounsai Konomi (鵬雲斎好)**: When a grand master designates a "konomi" — a preferred design — it becomes part of the Urasenke canon. Artisans granted permission to produce konomi-utushi work within strict aesthetic parameters while bringing their own technical skill. The designation signals that the piece belongs to a lineage, not merely a market.
**Sasaki Reiho (佐々木麗峰)**: A maki-e lacquer artisan recognized for work within the tea ceremony tradition. Reiho's technique balances painterly warmth — visible in the red and gold tones of the ox-riding figure — with the precision demanded by lacquer as a medium. Each layer must cure before the next is applied; patience is built into the process.
**Plum Blossom Symbolism (梅)**: In East Asian art, the plum blossom occupies the position of "first among flowers." It appears alongside bamboo and pine as one of the Three Friends of Winter (歳寒三友) — symbols of integrity under pressure. On this natsume, the plum grounds the Zen narrative in the natural world, connecting spiritual seeking with seasonal observation.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]
【基本情報】
• 作家：佐々木麗峰
• 技法：蒔絵（金・朱漆、黒漆地）
• 時代：2000年代
• 産地：日本
• 寸法：約6.5cm × 6.5cm
• 付属：木箱
• 状態：良好 — 茶道使用に伴う経年あり
【解説】
十牛図の第六図「騎牛帰家」を蓋に、金蒔絵の梅花を胴に配した棗です。裏千家十五代・鵬雲斎宗匠の好みを写した作品で、蒔絵師・佐々木麗峰の手によるものです。
騎牛の図は、悟りへの道程において修行者と牛（真の自己）が一体となる境地を描きます。茶の湯においてもまた、点前の稽古を重ねた先に訪れる「無理のない自然体」こそが目指すべき姿であり、この意匠はその精神を静かに伝えています。
胴部の梅花は冬の厳しさの中で最初に花開く生命力の象徴です。禅の精神性と季節の美意識が一碗の中で出会う——鵬雲斎好みの真髄がここにあります。
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
*The ox walks home through plum blossoms. The rider has forgotten the question. The answer carries them both.*
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