Miyajima Kettle

Miyajima Kettle
The raised mouth is broad and encircled with a depression before the shoulders broaden. From the shoulders the sides widen slightly as they descend to the flange. At the center of one side the characters "Miya-jima" are cast in relief. The lugs, in the shape of a torii gate that has been divided in the middle and attached right and left to the kettle, are well suited to the piece. The anecdote that accompanies the kettle goes that Tokugawa Ieyasu accorded Okubo Togoro (d. 1617) the name "Mondo" for successfully completing Edo's water supply system; Ieyasu went himself to the water's source at Inokashira, boiled water in the Miyazaki kettle, made tea, and then presented the kettle to Okubo as a reward. The modern-day tea connoisseur (sukisha) Masuda Don'o obtained this piece that had been handed down in the Tokugawa family (ryuei gomotsu) and on October 17, 1929 used it to boil water especially obtained from an Inokashira source to make tea at a gathering inviting his fellow connoisseurs Ishiguro Kyoo, Asabuki Saian, Takahashi Soan, and others.