Letter by Furuta Oribe’s Secretary
- Person
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作者古田織部（右筆）
- Date
-
制作年 AD16
- Title
- フルタオリベ（ユウヒツ）ショジョウ
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
- Ref. number
- AW-CEN-000234-0000
- License
- CC BY Images license
- Creditline
-
慶應義塾（センチュリー赤尾コレクション）
- URL
- Classification
- Art
- AI Tagging
- Handwriting Font Art Monochrome Rectangle
Warrior and tea master of the Momoyama and Edo periods Furuta Oribe (1544-1615) was one of Sen-no-Rikyu’s (1522-91) senior disciples and was also the originator of the Oribe School in the art of ceremonial tea. He was born in Mino Province and was first named Shigeteru (also Shibenari). In 1585, he was given the post of Director of Oribe and, thereafter, began to use this as his name. With his father, Shigesada, Furuta Oribe served powerful feudal lords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi and cultivated friendships with many daimyo (military patrons; landed general) and other influential people, as well as wealthy merchants. After the Battle of Sekigahara, he joined the Tokugawa faction. His fame was firmly established when in 1610 he instructed the second Tokugawa Shogun, Hidetada, in the method of preparing tea using a classical daisu, or a four-legged table on which to place the tea paraphernalia. However, during the Summer Campaign against Osaka Castle, he was sued for secretly contacting Tokugawa’s rival, the Toyotomi clan, and thus was ordered to commit suicide.The upper left part of this letter has worn away, thus eliminating the name of the addressee. From the content, however, one can see it is a thank-you letter for the full-length garment (the predecessor of the modern-day kimono) that he had received as a year-end gift. As it is signed “Shigeteru,” Oribe’s new name after 1588, it must have been written after he turned 44. However, at the end of the letter is written an apology: “With a sudden visitor, I have no time to write the letter myself.” So this is clearly written by a secretary, but it is still a valuable piece of calligraphy from the Middle Ages. The letter refers to a “kannin-katatsuki,” a tea caddy emulating the Chinese style, perhaps the famous tea ware in the former possession of Lord Date Masamune (1567-1636). This tea caddy was a family treasure handed down in the Date clan, but, in 1916, the Murayama family of Osaka, the founder of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, acquired it, and it is currently on exhibit at the Kosetsu Art Museum.
以上歳暮為御祝儀筋之小袖被懸御意候忝存候自是一首可申入候に自寺里へと候哉らんにて候以面拝御礼可申入候一かたつきかんにんハ成可申候茶わん御持料ニハ能可有之候旁期貴面節候客来候而他筆不能具候恐惶十二月廿七日重然（花押）古織部‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐［封］□□□□
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- Title (EN)
- Letter by Furuta Oribe’s Secretary
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
- Attachments
- 桐箱のみ、他書付2枚
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