Tea Vessels on Tray

Zeshin trained both as a lacquer craftsman and as a painter in the Shijō style. He subsequently moved to Kyoto to study the Maruyama-Shijō school of painting, which combined Western naturalism with East Asian painting techniques. This training provided the intellectual and aesthetic foundation for his sophisticated art. Returning to Edo, Zeshin established his career during the last decades of the Edo period, creating paintings and luxury goods, such as lacquered writing boxes. He became the first Imperial Household lacquer artist in 1890 and one of the most well-known lacquer artists in Japan.

The mixed Chinese and Japanese tea utensils depicted here are typical of the eclectic taste of the mid-Meiji era (1868–1912). Zeshin gives his age as seventy-three, dating the painting to about 1879.

Have a great Wednesday! And have a cup of tea with these cozy paintings showing tea drinkers. <3