This wooden black lacquer natsume is made in the formal shin-nuri (真塗) style of plain black lacquer. In this case the vessel has been coated twice for a thicker, more luxurious finish. The shin-nuri natsume was the preferred style of Sen-no-Rikyū.

Compared to most modern natsume which are made from a plastic or resin core, this natsume is made in the traditional fashion using turned wood as the base material. This is a much more labour-intensive method but yields a lighter more refined piece.

Usuchaki (薄茶器 - thin tea vessel) are wooden or lacquered wood containers used to store and present the matcha used for making usucha (薄茶 - thin tea). Of these, the natsume (棗 - chinese date/jujube) style is the most common, and often usuchaki are referred to generally as natsume. Traditionally, natsume are made from turned wood and covered with urushi lacquer, though today cheaper plastic and resin options are commonly used for practice. The most formal or shin natsume are undecorated black lacquer, while red, vermillion, decorated, or unlacquered natsume are slightly more informal.  

Because most natsume are not airtight, they are not suitable for long term storage and are only intended for presentation and heightening the tea making experience.

Dimensions:

6.5cm (2.6in) - width
7cm (2.8in) - height

Condition: New

This Japanese item ships from the United States.