Show off your feast gear!

[Lady Kimiko]

WANTED: pics of your feast gear!

I would love to show off my own feast gear, but also see other peoples own sets.

Mine is in the vague style of those used in the Momoyama period. Here is my feast gear...silver engraved chopsticks in a black lacuq-ish (plastic) carrying case, bamboo serving tray, bamboo place mat, and actual black lacquer bowls that are hand painted from Japan. My total cost was under $15.

MISSING FROM THE PHOTO: my fire-fired earthen tea cup produce in the Momoyama period style. A treasured gift from my Baroness.

ups.

[Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa]

SCA Feast gear by tomlapille, on Flickr

Here's mine, complete with tray to carry all the things around in. Black chopsticks not pictured.

I have yet to find a beverage cup that I like. I drink a lot of water in general, and all the cups that "look Japanese" are so small. I suppose it wouldn't be insane to get something glass, as I am apparently a guest in a European court, but I'd rather match...

[Lady Kimiko]

The somber black tones make me think of something a tea master would have used. Earthen, and simple. Black earthen ware was popular in the momoyama.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I don't generally attend feasts. (Bad for my eating habits). I do often make myself a nice little bento of something (rice and pickles travel very well!).

However, I do host social gatherings at various events. Will you settle for a photo of a classic House of Cheerful Monkeys picnic in the meantime?

[Saionji Shonagon]

Oct 24, 2011 15:20:25 GMT -5 Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa said:

I have yet to find a beverage cup that I like. I drink a lot of water in general, and all the cups that "look Japanese" are so small.

You need a chawan (tea bowl). I've accumulated a few, one by a local potter from Berkeley, one by a potter from Caid, an eBay find from Japan. (May try to put up pics later). I wrap mine in a cloth and have had good luck with taking them places.

[Noriko]

Nothing fancy but it's light and relatively break-proof. Not pictured: wooden bowl that is only lugged along when there's soup since it's a rather heavy, clunky piece and napkin. The cup was a fortunate find at a SCA merchant's table who specialized in second hand goods. The plate I found in a gift store in Salem.


edit: And no, it's not the photo- the chopsticks really are slightly different colors. *shrug*

[Saionji Shonagon]

Oct 24, 2011 15:32:54 GMT -5 Lady Kimiko said:

Earthen, and simple. Black earthen ware was popular in the momoyama.

Wabi: quest for simplicity or reverse snobbery?

[Lady Kimiko]

Oct 24, 2011 17:38:34 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

Oct 24, 2011 15:32:54 GMT -5 Lady Kimiko said:

Earthen, and simple. Black earthen ware was popular in the momoyama.

Wabi: quest for simplicity or reverse snobbery?

Bingo - at this time in the Momoyama a simple plain earthen ware cup was more precious then some works made of precious metals. Ill have stories.

After I finish the 28 days of peotry I am going to type up and share tales of the founding tea masters from the Momoyama and VERY early Edo. These tales re-inforce anti-decedance, simplicity, and harmony. Tea ceremony then is VERY different from tea ceremony now - so much so that I suspect many of the founding masters would heavily frown upon the highly ritualized ceremony of today. There are tales of the found masters rebelling against rules, and forbidding their students from even recording the masters teachings (but doing so anyways) because they believed it should be without rules and ritualized regulation.


There is a core concept that is found in an earthen ware tea cup. That it represents the elements in harmony with man..let me explain:

The breakdown is as follows:
Earth - the clay for the cup
Fire - the fire used to harden the cup and design
Water - tea
Air - the smell of the tea...

And it all is held in the hand of a man, representing mans harmony with nature and the elements. Note I said harmony, not mastery.

[Saionji Shonagon]

This constitutes my day-trip lunch kit.



Plastic bento ($5) and cotton tenugui (towel) ($1.50) are from Daiso Japan. (Round braid cotton cord from the notions department of my local fabric store, works great for everything from a bento strap to hair tie and comes in a variety of colors.)

The fruit knife and two-piece travel chopsticks are from Soko Hardware in San Francisco. (Don't remember how much they were, but not expensive.) Take-down hashi aren't period, but this way I tend not to lose them.

The tea bowl was made by Mercy the Potter, from Caid www.rakurakutei.com/ (Psst, she takes commissions and her prices are quite reasonable....)

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Oct 24, 2011 15:20:25 GMT -5 Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa said:

Here's mine, complete with tray to carry all the things around in. Black chopsticks not pictured.

Pretty. Problem is that those Europeans just do not serve enough soup. With enough good soup you can go through an entire feast sans water. Then on to the sake drinking.

[Deleted]

Here is what I would consider "feast gear" for one person, for one feast:

One linen furoshiki/napkin, one melamine teacup, one wooden soup spoon (mostly used as a serving implement), one plastic bowl, one melamine plate, one pair chopsticks, and one kogatana for cutting up that improperly prepared barbarian food.

The trouble is that with two people (myself and my lady wife), plus the fact that events around here often include a day board as well, here is what our "feast box" looks like:

Two linen napkins, two teacups, four plates, four bowls, two 24oz wooden tankards for water, a bread knife, a sharp knife, a large sushi geta for a cutting bord, some garbage bags, some tea towels, a candlestick and candles, a bundle of chopsticks, four auxilliary bamboo sake cups (in the bamboo box), a bag of paper napkins for emergencies, two wooden spoons, a corkscrew, a box of silverware (not pictured), and a linen tablecloth (not pictured). The metal pan is a deep half-size "hotel pan" which has a lid and can double as a dish washing tub or food tote.

We travel a little heavy. The karabitsu it's packed into makes a good emergency table or seat, though.

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2011 15:20:25 GMT -5 Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa said:

I have yet to find a beverage cup that I like. I drink a lot of water in general, and all the cups that "look Japanese" are so small.

Maybe instead of a larger cup, a serving vessel? A bottle or teapot will hold more water, and you can just keep refilling the cup. If you use the bottle from a sake set, you may get quite a reputation!

[Saionji Shonagon]

Oct 24, 2011 21:56:07 GMT -5 @ishiyama said:

If you use the bottle from a sake set, you may get quite a reputation!

I've actually done that. A couple of Estrella Wars ago, a couple from the Far West presented me with some sake that came in a decent sized stoneware jug - between their sketchy English and my nearly nonexistent Japanese, I think it was either brewed by or for a shrine. Anyway, I kept the jug (and cork) and use it to take either cold tea or water with me to drink.

[nana]

My sweetheart got me feast gear for Christmas! (Clockwise from the left) I have several pink bowls to be obnoxiously pink! My white tea bowl of sorts, Tea light holder, little sake cup (for condiments), a complete sushi set (the two sizes of plates seen), Sake bottle and matching cups (not in picture), spoon, and chopsticks with the matching chopstick rest. And I'm going to get a knife very soon! Not bad for my non SCA husband. He's a keeper!

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[Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa]

That is quite nice!

I have found that carting around a bunch of little dishes, while correct, can be annoying when it's time to walk down a buffet line. That's why I ended up getting the tray I posted earlier in the thread. You may find that you want one of those eventually.