Japan, a visually attractive antique Classic stone garden planter or water basin natsume (tea canister shape) which was hand-carved from solid granite.

Dimensions: 26 inches high and 18 inches diameter

Period: hand-carved in solid granite during the Meiji to -Showa periods, (1890-1940).

Comments: The handsome and well proportioned hand-carved form known as natsume (tea canister shape) fashioned in solid granite stone and
featuring varied patina from age. These are extraordinary works of art for fine gardens. Quintessential Japanese planter form ready for your flowers, hanging vines, or superb water features.

Please see photographs of numerous ways you can display and decorate these quintessential Japanese stone basins using succulent plantings, colored stones, or as beautiful simple serene water features.

Provenance: Japanese garden, Nagoya, Japan

History:

In Japan, a tsukubai is a stone washbasin usually located at entrance to shrines, temples or tea gardens so visitors may purify themselves by ritual hand washing and rinsing of ones mouth. This type of ritual cleansing is the custom for guests attending a tea ceremony or visiting the grounds of a Buddhist temple. The name originates from the verb tsukubau meaning to bow down, an act of humility.

Water basins Tsukubai are singularly the most popular, frequent and practical garden ornament found in Japanese gardens. They symbolize Buddhist “purification” and are usually strategically placed in gardens or as an indoor entry tokanoma accent to allow visitors opportunity to cleanse hands prior to participating in a tea ceremony event or before honoring a shrine or temple. These kinds welcome visitors to stop and bow in a respectful, humble manner to perform purification of body and soul ritual.