"Fushiki" water jar (mizusashi)

Once owned by the great tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591), the Fushiki water jar occupies an extremely significant place in the history of Tokoname tea ceramics. Rikyu wrote about it in his Rikyu Hyakukaiki (Record of Rikyu's Hundred Tea Gatherings), a text illuminating the tea ceremony in his age, and he titled this water jar “bakemono” (phantom). It is said that Sen Sōtan (1578－1658), a successor of Rikyu, later named it “fushiki” (the unknown), thinking it resembled the image of Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. For the anonymous potter who created the jar, would have been unimaginable that such renowned tea masters had revered it.