A group of silver ware used for a wedding ceremony. Late 19th century
Consisting of two types of choshi, a lidded mizusashi and two small lidded bowls on a stand. One of the sake ewers with a single spout and moveable handle (weight 1154 g), the other ewer with two spouts and a long handle (weight 1775 g), the mizusashi with two loose ring handles (weight 2280 g), the lidded cups for gentleman and lady (weight 559 g and 419 g). All pieces decorated in engraving with aoi-mon and Horai motif (crane, minogame, pine and bamboo) and tachibana. The smaller choshi with the French custom stamp used between 1893 and the 1970s. (5)
Height of the choshi, a) with handle 21.5 cm; b) 14 cm, length 52.5 cm; height of the mizusashi 22.2 cm; total height of the lidded cups 16.5 and 14.7 cm
While the two chôshi were used at a formal wedding ceremony, the mizusashi is part of the daizu kazari, the portable shelf with tea ceremony utensils which include a kettle on a furô, a tubular vessel for laddle and hashi, and two small bowls.
Provenance
According to the consignor from the estate of Georges Audoyer (1885 - ?), from 1925 onward president of the French chamber of commerce in Japan
Literature
Compare similar choshi in the exhibition "Tokugawa's Castles", The Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 4.8.2015 - 27.9.2015; for the mizusashi compare: Shogun, exhibition catalogue, Haus der Kunst, München 1984, p. 270