
…wind in the pines She crafted a variety of ceramic utensils for the tea ceremony. From Chawan (tea bowls), to Mizusashi (for fresh water), and from Chaire (tea containers) to Kensui (for waste water). But for some reason one utensil is incredibly hard to find. Rengetsu hardly ever made a kama – a kettle – like the one you see here. It has a wonderful, withered, and worn patina. It shows the decades this kettle has been used. The world’s dust swept aside here in my hermitage I have all I need — the wind in the pines. Wind in the pines (matsukaze) refers to the sound of boiling water in the kettle. And the hermitage in Rengetsu’s poem may well be her tea hut. Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) |
