water jar with lid, unknown maker from Japan

While the Japanese tea ceremony dates to the 10th century, it flourished under the direction and promotion of Murata Jukō (Shukō) (1423–1502), who is widely acknowledged as the founder of the chanoyu tea ceremony. His innovation of serving tea in an unpretentious, rural cottage came to embody what was called wabicha or poverty tea. The term comes from a word implying loneliness, but wabi has a positive connotation, suggesting the Zen and Daoist concept of liberation from material and emotional concerns. The beauty of wabi celebrates imperfection and irregularity and praises cracks and tears, which are evident in the tea ceramics shown here. As Jukō once observed: “The moon is not pleasing unless partly obscured by a cloud.”