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Table of Contents

  • Here, I use the word 薄茶器 to mean non-茶入 茶器 (even though some can also be used for 濃茶).
  • impressive document listing different types and their 好み-ers. No clue where I got it from 🤷

紹鴎好 七種

The document above states that the first attempt at classifying 薄茶器 is by 武野紹鴎:

  1. 頭切(ずんぎり) or 寸切 (cut off head), of which the 金輪寺(きんりんじ) is a famous example.
  2. 臨器(のぞき), which belongs to a family of old, Chinese-style medicine containers used in temples. Related terms are the 西大寺茶器 and 薬器; early 茶桶.
  3. 帽子 (hat, so it has a protruding lid)
  4. 飯器 (rice vessel, but I couldn't find anything else about it)
  5. 薬器
  6. 薬籠(やくろう)（中次）(from which later the 面中次 and 吹雪 developed)
  7. 棗 (but his 棗 didn't have rounded shoulders, it was more like a little drum)

利休 then developed the 棗 into different sizes and shapes (like the 平, 鶯棗 and 尻張; and the

仙叟 (12)

  • 仙叟 has a set of 12 favourites, as well as 井伊直弼. 仙叟's list:
    1. 再来棗(さいらい)
    2. 尻張棗(しりばり) (swollen bottom)
    3. 茶合(ちゃごう)
    4. 大棗
    5. 茶桶 (tea bucket)
    6. 面中次(めん) (beveled)
    7. 中棗
    8. 鶯棗(うぐいす)
    9. 碁笥棗(ごけ) (a Go stone bucket)
    10. 平棗
    11. 小棗
    12. 一服入棗 (one serving)

如心斎 (12)

Read じょしんさい, 7th generation 表千家 (Edo period, so around 1705-1751), did a lot of systematisation, such as the 七事式, and also, “to prevent the distortion of shapes”, defined 12 shapes that 利休 would've liked:

  1. 大棗
  2. 中棗
  3. 小棗
  4. 一服入棗
  5. 尻張棗
  6. 茶桶
  7. 大吹雪
  8. 吹雪
  9. 面中次
  10. 白粉解(おしろいとき)
  11. 薬器(やくき)棗
  12. 頭切

Notably, it forgoes 利休's 平棗.

如心斎 (32)

Together with the 3rd generation 宗哲, he also made a 32-item set gathering from the masters before him and adding his own creation. (武野紹鴎 3 + 盛阿弥 1 + 千利休 16 + 千宗旦 3 + 古田織部 1 + 仙叟宗室 4 + 覚々斎原叟 3 + 如心斎天然宗左 1 = 32)

No. Creator / Form Kanji Reading English description
1 武野紹鴎 大棗 おおなつめ Large natsume; one of Jōō's basic size forms.
2 武野紹鴎 中棗 ちゅうなつめ Medium natsume; intermediate size of the basic natsume form.
3 武野紹鴎 小棗 こなつめ Small natsume; smallest of Jōō's three basic sizes.
4 盛阿弥 大棗 おおなつめ Large natsume; slightly larger than the later Rikyū-form ō-natsume.
5 千利休 大棗 おおなつめ Large natsume in the standardized Rikyū form.
6 千利休 中棗 ちゅうなつめ Medium natsume in the Rikyū form.
7 千利休 小棗 こなつめ Small natsume in the Rikyū form.
8 千利休 一服入棗 いっぷくいりなつめ Extremely small natsume intended to hold approximately one serving of koicha.
9 千利休 大雪吹 おおふぶき Large fubuki; cylindrical form with chamfered upper and lower edges, derived from an older kara-chaoke type.
10 千利休 小雪吹 こふぶき Small version of the fubuki form.
11 千利休 面中次 めんなかつぎ Faceted nakatsugi; upper edge is chamfered and the lid-body joint lies around the middle.
12 千利休 茶桶 ちゃおけ Cylindrical “tea-bucket” form; similar to nakatsugi but with the lid-body joint positioned higher.
13 千利休 薬器 やくき Form derived from a medicine container; pronounced shoulders and a fitted cut-joint construction.
14 千利休 下張棗 しもはりなつめ Natsume with gently sloping shoulders and a body that swells toward the bottom.
15 千利休 白粉解 おしろいとき Form derived from a cosmetic face-powder container; regarded as an ancestor of the hira-natsume.
16 千利休 鷲棗 わしなつめ Small historical natsume form associated with an early Rikyū preference and a prototype by Seiami.
17 千利休 菊棗・大 きくなつめ・だい Large chrysanthemum natsume; part of a paired set connected with Rikyū's tea offering to Emperor Ōgimachi.
18 千利休 菊棗・小 きくなつめ・しょう Small version of the chrysanthemum natsume.
19 千利休 桐棗・大 きりなつめ・だい Large paulownia natsume; paired with the chrysanthemum forms.
20 千利休 桐棗・中 きりなつめ・ちゅう Medium paulownia natsume; together the chrysanthemum and paulownia vessels form two paired types.
21 千宗旦 溜塗中次 ためぬりなかつぎ Nakatsugi finished in tame lacquer over visible wood; deliberately restrained wabi taste.
22 千宗旦 松木中棗 まつきちゅうなつめ Medium natsume made from pine wood, emphasizing the natural material and wabi aesthetic.
23 千宗旦 詩中次 うたなかつぎ Nakatsugi with a poem written directly in ink; wood-grain tame-lacquer finish.
24 古田織部 溜茶桶 ためちゃおけ Tea-bucket form in wood-grain tame lacquer (春慶塗); deep lid and archaic fitted joint.
25 仙叟宗室 大棗（河太郎） おおなつめ（かわたろう） Large natsume with the centre and surrounding area of the lid deliberately depressed; called “Kawatarō.”
26 仙叟宗室 薬器 やくき Sensō's version of the medicine-vessel form, distinguished by a depressed lid top.
27 仙叟宗室 碁笥 ごけ Form modeled after a bowl used to hold Go stones.
28 仙叟宗室 茶合棗 ちゃごうなつめ Natsume derived from the shape of a measuring vessel used for tea or medicines.
29 覚々斎原叟 大棗 おおなつめ Large natsume with an old-fashioned, straight and flat lid profile (甲が一文字).
30 覚々斎原叟 小棗 こなつめ Small version of Gensō's flat-topped natsume form.
31 覚々斎原叟 菊桐雪吹・大 きくきりふぶき・だい Large fubuki with small chrysanthemum and paulownia motifs in maki-e on the lid.
32 如心斎天然宗左 壺々大棗 つぼつぼおおなつめ Large natsume decorated with tsubo-tsubo motifs derived from small unglazed vessels traditionally used for making roasted salt.

井伊直弼

  1. 大棗(おおなつめ) — 黒漆塗。柳竹(やなぎたけ)に鶯(うぐいす)を蒔絵。New-year design of willow and bamboo with a bush warbler.
  2. 中棗(ちゅうなつめ) — 朱漆系。菫(すみれ)に雲雀(ひばり)を蒔絵。Violets and a skylark, representing the first signs of spring in the fields.
  3. 薬器(やくき) — 黒漆系。桜(さくら)に雉子(きじ)を蒔絵。Cherry blossoms with a pair of pheasants.
  4. 面中次(めんなかつぎ) — 溜塗系。卯花(うのはな)に郭公(ほととぎす)を蒔絵。Deutzia blossoms and a cuckoo, a classic early-summer pairing.
  5. 白粉解(おしろいとき) — 朱漆系。橘(たちばな)に水鶏(くいな)を蒔絵。Tachibana orange and water rail, with a waterside early-summer landscape.
  6. 金輪寺(きんりんじ) — 木地・摺漆系。撫子(なでしこ)に鵜飼(うかい)を描く。Nadeshiko with cormorant fishing, including reeds, fishing boat and bonfire.
  7. 下張棗(しもはりなつめ) — 真塗（黒漆）。女郎花(おみなえし)に鵲(かささぎ)を金蒔絵。Ominaeshi and magpies; the magpie evokes the bridge of the Tanabata legend.
  8. 八角中次(はっかくなかつぎ) — 黒漆系。萩(はぎ)に雁(かり)を蒔絵。Bush clover and wild geese, an archetypal early-autumn combination.
  9. 平棗(ひらなつめ) — 溜塗。尾花(おばな)（薄）に鶉(うずら)を蒔絵。Pampas grass and quail, forming an autumn grassland scene.
  10. 雪吹(ふぶき) — 黒漆系。残菊(ざんぎく)に鶴(つる)を蒔絵。Late chrysanthemums with cranes.
  11. ** 丸棗(まるなつめ)** — 洗朱塗。枇杷(びわ)に千鳥(ちどり)を蒔絵。Loquat and plovers, a strongly wintry waterside design.
  12. 割蓋(わりぶた) — 黒漆系。早梅(そうばい)に鴛鴦(おしどり)を蒔絵。Early plum blossom and mandarin ducks, joining the first hint of spring with a winter bird motif.

茶入 and 茶器

  • I think Burkus somewhere explains that the 棗 is modeled after the 茶入's 挽家:
茶入 棗
大海 平棗
肩付 長棗
文林 中棗

Rest

Here, we have a whole bunch of items, some with more established traditions:

  • 四滴茶入 (misleadingly named, since the lid still goes to 6 o'clock). For those, HS showed me a little dance to remember their four shapes.
    • Among those is the handled つるつき. Here the 茶杓 goes throug the handle. For purifying, first clean the front, then turn CW 90° to clean the back (both straight).
    • For the 割蓋　手桶 that I have, KR25 and I conjecture: Clean like above, either turning back before setting down, or turning as you set it down. For scooping, however, turn CCW by 90°, flip the lid of the front (now to the R) and put it on the other side of the handle. For presenting it during 拝見 and during 拝見 itself, also rest the front lid on the back side.
  • 中次
  • 吹雪, named so because top and bottom look the same (like when you're in a snow storm).
  • 金輪寺
  • …
Last modified: 29.09.2026:1112