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Tea in the Floating World

December 7, 2002 - May 26, 2003

Museum: Freer Gallery of Art

Location: Gallery 6A

This small exhibition of tea ceremony paraphernalia looks at the less familiar side of tea-drinking customs during the Edo period (1615-1868) by describing the ceremony's role in the luxurious reception rooms of high-class houses of assignation in the officially sanctioned pleasure quarters as well as in the green rooms or behind-the-scenes lounges of Kabuki theaters. The exhibition complements 2 installations of ukiyo-e paintings and prints in both the Freer and Sackler Galleries.