can anyone identify this?

[trent]

Can anyone tell me what these are? I saw one at my local tea shop, and the owner said that it was something like a chataku.



http://www.nishikawa.to/tokyohomepage/g ... idai1.html

[chamekke]

It's a dai or [cup] stand.

Some dai-s are used for teacups, others for sake cups. The dimensions should give you some idea of which these are meant for. They're certainly very pretty!

I don't know much about dai-s ... the only dai I own, aside from one for tenmoku-chawan, is a small fella made of makie-lacquered wood and meant to hold a sake cup (sakazuki). One of my Japanese books may include photos of how they're used with teacups, but it'll take some hunting to find.

[MarshalN]

They're there to hold sake cups for guests. You can use it for tea, I suppose, although personally I find regular chataku to be a lot more convenient and elegant.

[chamekke]

IIRC, dai are pretty much reserved for formal use - for example, when offering a drink to an especially honoured guest.

[MarshalN]

Yes, I think I should've said "honoured guest" instead. You don't use it normally.

Part of the point, afaik, is to hold the cup of the guest far above the table.

[TIM]

Suppose to have a matching tea/wine cup on top of it: