A lovely age worn tea pot and tray espousing the Japanese reverence for natural materials cut from the root of a bamboo enclosed in an old wooden box titled Chikkon Jidai Binshiki Kyusu (Ancient Tea Pot and Stand of Bamboo Root). A tiny water crab crawls over the curling leaf edge of the Binshiki tray. The tea pot is 9 x 10 x 7.5 cm (3-1/2 x 4 x 3 inches) and in excellent condition. The Binshiki tray is 11 x 12 x 3.5 cm (4-1/2 x 4-3/4 x 1-1/2 inches). There is slight wear to the edges of the tray. The importance of Sencha in the late Edo and Meiji periods cannot be overlooked, and has been studied in depth in the book: Tea of the Sages, the Art of Sencha by Patricia Jane Graham. A highly recommendable read.
