Ōnatsume Autumn grasses with dewdrops | Umeda Rantei梅田蘭亭 | 20th century

Umeda Rantei is a byword for quality in the elegant world of the tea ceremony. However, it is not entirely clear whether the name refers to a lacquer design, a workshop, or an individual, as no personal details can be found anywhere. This is of little consequence in itself, as the luxurious, exquisitely crafted object speaks for itself. The manufacturing technique is called makie. Makie actually means ‘sprinkled image’, because in the oldest makie technique, an image is drawn onto a dried layer of lacquer using liquid lacquer and then sprinkled with gold dust. When the lacquer dries, the golden motif appears as if it were painted.

Over time, this technique was further developed, and it became possible to paint directly with a brush – in other words, to practise ‘lacquer painting’. It seems to me that this object is already a form of ‘painting’, as a slightly reddish gold paint has been used in places. The applied silver buttons, intended to represent dewdrops, have nothing to do with makie at all.

The motif of the gold decoration consists of autumn flowers and grasses. Prominently visible on the lid is susuki grass (pampas grass), which sways in the wind in Japanese meadows from the start of autumn onwards. Two typical autumn flowers are the chrysanthemum and the bush clover, known as hagi. The bush clover has delicate violet flowers, which were often celebrated in poetry, particularly during the Middle Ages. The panicles are slightly reddish, a feature highlighted here in the gold decoration with a delicate reddish hue.

An ōnatsume is a ‘large natsume’, i.e. a container in which the green tea used for matcha in the tea ceremony is stored.