The mizusashi holds the clean water used during a procedure to top up the kettle and rinse the bowl. Together with the tea container, bowl, and kettle it makes up the host's arrangement, and its form, material, and lid help carry the theme of the gathering. Its range of materials is the widest of any utensil, which makes it the one most freely combined with the season and the formality of the occasion.
History
Water jars and buckets from temple kitchens are the ancestors of the type, refined into a distinct utensil as tea practice developed. In the Momoyama period unglazed Shigaraki and Bizen jars became emblems of wabi tea. The Edo period added lacquered bucket forms, blue-and-white and enamelled porcelain, and imported nanban wares. New designs to a head family's taste, and mitate — pressing a vessel never intended as a water jar into service as one — make this the utensil in which a practitioner's invention shows most clearly.
Types
By material: earthenware (Shigaraki, Bizen, Iga, Shino), porcelain (blue-and-white, enamelled, celadon), lacquer (buckets, bentwood), metal, plain wood, nanban ware, and basketry. By form: narrow, flared, bucket, bentwood, faceted, square, and imogashira. Lids are either of the same material as the body or a separate lacquered lid, and pairing a lacquered lid with a ceramic body is a recognised opportunity for the host's judgement.
In practice
The jar sits near the fire in the host's area, and water is drawn from it with the ladle. Taking off the lid, setting it down, and closing it again mark the divisions of the procedure, and each school has detailed conventions for handling it. The jar's role closes with topping up the kettle at the end — steam rising from the kettle as cold water goes in, a moment read as an image of purity.
Sources
- 水指（日本大百科全書） / コトバンク
Supports: 水指が茶席で使用する水を蓄えておく器で、釜の湯を補い、茶碗・茶筅などをすすぐ水を入れておく器であること
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
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Related terms
- Hishaku (ladle)hishaku
A bamboo ladle for drawing hot water and cold; the utensil handled most often, and the one that shows a host's movement most plainly.
- Mizutsugi (water replenisher)mizutsugi
A vessel with a spout used to add cold water to the kettle after the charcoal procedure.
- Kensui (waste-water vessel)kensui
The vessel that receives used rinsing water; an unobtrusive utensil that nonetheless sets the tone of a procedure.
- Kaigu (matched set of four)kaigu
A water jar, waste-water vessel, ladle stand, and lid rest matched in material and design; the summit of formality.