Saturday, December 15, 2007

Photo Hunters - Small


tnchick's word for today's Photo Hunters is SMALL.

These are the SMALL figurines on a side table in my living room. The SMALLER Japanese figurine on the left as you look at the picture is a woman playing a koto. On the right, in a dark red resin material, is a fat Laughing Buddha.

In the foreground is a decoratively-dressed ceramic Japanese woman participating in a tea ceremony.

A tea practitioner must be familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices, the study of the tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of the prescribed gestures and phrases, the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room. (Wikipedia)


28 comments:

-tnchick- said...

those are pretty - do you collect them?

PowersTwinB said...

dang nabbit, there I go again, learning SOMETHING on the hunt! Amazing about the tea ceremonies, I had no idea. Great photo and post! My hunt is up, please come and visit

FRIDAY'S CHILD said...

Awesome!

Michele said...

Oh, those are beautiful. It's interesting to learn about those. Thanks for sharing this.
The Rocky Mountain Retreat

Carver said...

Those are lovely figures for the small theme. A very interesting post too. Hope you have a pleasant weekend.

ellen b. said...

Nice figurines. I'm afraid I wouldn't do well at a tea ceremony...
Interesting info, thanks...

ipanema said...

i love your subjects! and yes, tea ceremony is very detailed. thanks for sharing.


happy weekend! :)

Sarge Charlie said...

very nice teach

eastcoastlife said...

Oops... Mary. Both the ladies are Chinese, not Japanese. The lady in the foreground is wearing the Manchurian headgear while the other lady is from another Chinese dynasty.

Siani said...

Those figurines are very pretty. And thanks for the information about the tea ceremony - it's nice to learn something new. Have a lovely weekend!

My pics are up at Siani's Pot-Pourri.

Crazy Working Mom said...

OMG, those are beautiful. My little monsters...err, ummm...I mean children would have them broken in a heartbeat, though. I'll remember to handcuff them if I ever visit. *LOL*

Happy Hunting.

Tisha @ CrAzY Working Mom

Natalie said...

Those are lovely and the biggest one is so intricate! My mom's friend has a red Buddha like that or similar to that. :)

My Photo Hunt is up too! :)

kljs said...

Nice small figurines.

http://kennyljs.com/

jams o donnell said...

What lovely ornaments. Great choice for this week's theme. Happy weekend

SandyCarlson said...

Thanks for the info with this wonderful photo, Mary. The laughing Buddha is one of my favorites. He reminds us that life is fun! Tea ceremonies as works of art are intriguing.

maryt/theteach said...

Yes, Sandy, I've always loved the laughing Buddha! Thanks for this early morning comment...

Ramon Jose said...

our house is filled with small figurines and other knickknacks my mom collected over the years as weel. they're wonderful to look at byt cleaning is anothing thing.

happy hunting.

Liz said...

Great shots! Loved the tea ceremony figurine. Thanks for dropping by. Have a happy Sunday!

Anonymous said...

The figurines are lovely. My mom loves to collect those kind. MIne is up at http://mlizcochico.com. Do drop by if you have time.

Natalie said...

Thanks for stopping by my hunt. To answer your questions. We were in a high rise in Salt Lake City waiting to eat at a fancy restaurant for our anniversary...yep, our daughter came with us. LOL! That building in the background is the Salt Lake LDS Temple.

jmb said...

Teach, these are very beautiful things for the theme. Did you get them in Japan? I have a Japanese friend who demonstrates the tea ceremony for us every now and again when she comes from Japan. She was on Sabbatical here for a year and made lots of friends.

JC said...

I love the lesson included with your post... those are beautiful pieces!

Hope you enjoy the view from the field :-)

Anonymous said...

My mother used to have a large laughing buddha. It was huge. Thanks for the highlights of a tea ceremony. Great photo and have a good weekend.

Cynthia said...

Lovely figures...great small!

JesieBlogJourney said...

My husband should have seen these. We did not have a tea ceremony for our wedding.

Thanks for bringing it to photohunt.

Janna said...

I'm fascinated by the koto one. Makes me want to do some research on that instrument!
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
My photo hunts include a puppy and a phallic cheeto.

Anonymous said...

I thought it is Chinese's figurine~

Btw, I also post my Photo Hunter: Small , hope you would visit and say HI~

Lynda Lehmann said...

That is just amazing! I think Americans, being in a rush, would just send out for MacDonald's and be done with it! (to our disadvantage, of course, as ritual can give both an aesthetic and meaning to life...)