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This is a really fun little
棚! Originally, it was used in the 水谷, but
利休 took it to the Odawara campaign in 1590, and that's that. Now we use it often in March or April. It's so big that it wouldn't be very suitable for
風炉, but it gives an outside feeling, so late
炉 is a good time to use it.
遠州流 use the 短冊箪笥 similarly, and that one you could use in
風炉 (in fact, I've done that for one of the early konomi presentations 🤫)
Make
It is usually made of paulownia (which is what
利休 would've used), but there are also models made of
桑, lacquered ones or, very pretty, one made with reeds.
It has two boards in it:
The upper one has a notch for the
柄杓, and there's nothing to be supposed to be put on that board.
The lower one is a bit shorter, and this is where the 薄茶器 sits. It doesn't move, but it acts a little bit like the moving board in the 杉棚: For
薄茶, you can either leave it in, in which case you need to pull the
水指 forward before getting out the 薄茶器; or you can leave the
水指 where it is and remove the board before purifying the 薄茶器 to use as a space to put 薄茶器 and
茶筅 on similar to
茶箱!
Similarities
It is very similar to the 八千代 (in that one, however, the
柄杓 blocks the
水指, so after opening the cover, you put the
柄杓 and the
蓋置 on the
棚 to unlock the
水指).
It has elements of the
徒然 in that the
茶碗 is also hidden from sight in 総荘!
Opening
L holds the top left corner of the door. With R, remove the pin, insert it from the side, then pull the door forward. L holds the lower L part of it, R moves to hold the upper L part of it. With both hands, lean it against the L side of the box.
I've not seen this documented somewhere, but I presume if there was a calligraphy at the back of the lid, you could lean it against the R side (probably holding L upper left, R upper right, L lower right).
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