I saw this exhibition at the Freer/Sackler a while ago but somehow missed posting about it until now. Unfortunately it's closed but I was still so taken with the concept of it, that I felt like I needed to make a note.
The show was titled: Chigusa and the Art of Tea.
I didn't read the description of this exhibition before I went but thought I was going to see tea vessels and implements used in tea ceremonies. I don't know much about these items so I was expecting to see tea cups, maybe a pot or two, a tea strainer? I wasn't sure but when I got there I found out that the entire exhibition was centered around one object, a tea storage jar that was named...Chigusa.
The jar had a name and it was precious to its owners because of its beauty of form and glazing. I walked right by this jar on my way in after having read this introduction because at first glance, it's a brown jar. When I turned around and looked at Chigusa, I felt like I was in that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy realizes that the holy grail isn't the jeweled cup. Ahhhh, it's THAT tea storage jar.
The rest of the exhibit consisted of the items that were used with Chigusa, it discussed Chigusa's owners and stories of its time with each, and a recreation of the tea room showing where Chigusa would go inside that tea room. I was blown away that the entire exhibition was devoted to this one object and couldn't actually think of another one like it. Maybe I'm forgetting something very obvious and if I am, let me know, but I walked away feeling like I had just learned about a person's history instead of that of an object.
