Sake Cup
Maker
Ōtagaki Rengetsu
(Japanese, 1791 - 1875)
Date1868
MediumHand-built glazed earthenware with calligraphic poem incised through glaze
DimensionsHeight: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Diameter (Diameter of mouth): 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
Diameter (Diameter of mouth): 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Brooks McCormick Jr. Fund
Object number2000.8
Object TypeCeramics
On View
Not on view About the Artwork
Otagaki Rengetsu was a mostly self-taught potter. She typically crafted her pottery by gradually building up the clay by hand and inscribing the surface with waka poetry, as can be seen on this small sake cup. Waka is a 31-syllable Japanese poetic form that Rengetsu pursued her whole life. The angular calligraphic style seen on this cup resulted mainly from her practice of incising right into the clay and needing to maintain legibility. Rengetsu relied to that end on the kana script, the Japanese form of syllabic writing, instead of using Chinese characters. Her graphs are clearly distinct and, atypically, not linked together. The inscription that circles the cup reads:
In the fields In the mountains I was enthralled On the way home The autumn moon Accompanied me Right to my room. Rengetsu Age 79.
Otagaki Rengetsu was a mostly self-taught potter. She typically crafted her pottery by gradually building up the clay by hand and inscribing the surface with waka poetry, as can be seen on this small sake cup. Waka is a 31-syllable Japanese poetic form that Rengetsu pursued her whole life. The angular calligraphic style seen on this cup resulted mainly from her practice of incising right into the clay and needing to maintain legibility. Rengetsu relied to that end on the kana script, the Japanese form of syllabic writing, instead of using Chinese characters. Her graphs are clearly distinct and, atypically, not linked together. The inscription that circles the cup reads:
In the fields In the mountains I was enthralled On the way home The autumn moon Accompanied me Right to my room. Rengetsu Age 79.
Reference: Kris Ercums, “Otagaki Rengetsu”, in Smart Collecting: Acquisitions 1990–2004, Kimerly Rorschach et al. (China: Asia Pacific Printing Co., Ltd., 2004), 122. Published in conjunction with the exhibition “Smart Collecting: A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration”, July 8-September 5, 2004.
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