Exploring Culture Through Tableware
The Suntory Museum of Art will host a special exhibit on ceramic tableware from the early modern period, mainly from the Momoyama to Edo periods, celebrating the museum’s fundamental principle of “beauty in everyday life.”
Even 400 years ago, it was common in Japan to seek out, use and enjoy ceramic tableware of various origins, shapes, patterns and uses in hospitality settings. Many of them contained messages such as a sense of the seasons or auspicious symbols. In other words, tableware, together with food, was a “feast for the eyes” that brought deep joy to guests.
The exhibit will reveal the Japanese people’s strong interest in tableware throughout history. The exhibition will be set up with two chapters. The first will examine tableware used in the early modern period. Through the pieces’ roles and uses, guests will be able to see how tableware shaped dining etiquette and hospitality in Japan. Chapter two will focus on the varied shapes and patterns of tableware and try to decipher the message that the host put into each one. To protect the tableware, the featured pieces will be changed throughout the exhibition period.
