Miki Suizan 三木翠山: Tea Ceremony at Miyako Odori Festival (Miyako Odori no Tencha) (Sold)

Artist: Miki Suizan (1887-1957)
Title:  Tea Ceremony at Miyako Odori Festival (Miyako Odori no Tencha)
Date: 1924

Series: The first Series of Selected Views of Kyoto

A young geisha in a formal pose is shown holding a cup of matcha, all the implements for the tea ceremony on the high table in front of her. We see the whisk, the boiling water and even the charcoal for the brazier below. A second teabowl sits to her right, perhaps waiting to be passed to a guest. As she seems to be seated on a high stool rather than kneeling on the tatami as per tradition, we know that this is a public ceremony rather than a private one. Indeed, this tea ceremony is part of the Miyako Odori, the geisha dance performances held every April in Kyoto. Prior to the dance performance, a geiko on a platform at the front of the room may offer a tea ceremony for the public to observe. Here the geiko (Kyoto geisha) wears a rather ceremonial black kimono and all of the elements match the reverence of the occasion. This public tea ceremony may still be experienced today as part of the Miyako Odori dances. Her serious expression is deliberate, as geiko are taught to keep their faces expressionless during the tea ceremony. Prints that show the tea ceremony are very scarce in ukiyo-e and shin hanga.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Perfectly unfaded, with the soft pink color around the eyes still extant.
Dimensions: 41.6 x 27.4 cm

Publisher:  Satô Shôtarô
Signed: Suizan

SKU: SCZ015