Description

This water container for chanoyu, or Japanese-style tea practice, once belonged to the Hosokawa family, whose facilitator corresponded with Seifū Yohei IV (1871–1951) about the piece. In a response in 1914, Yohei IV thanked them for their payment and requested that, despite Seifū Yohei III’s death, they continue to favor the studio with their orders. The letter and its envelope, as well as an auction tag, remain with the object, as do its inner and outer boxes. Yohei IV wrote an inscription on the reverse of the inner box lid authenticating the work as one made by his father.