BLOG 17.  “Tea serving doll was the most popular automaton in Edo period.”

Tea serving doll has a mainspring and automatically carry a tea cup to the guest and return. The drawing showed here is the its main mechanism (ref. JAK p.104). The winding black belt in the drawing is the mainspring. Also, the photo here is a replica of the tea serving doll which is made by my friend Minesaki Sougo (ref. JAK p. 247-248). Minesaki-san is specialist restoring karakuri of Edo period. There are tea serving dolls made in Edo period are survived and found not only in Japan but some Western countries. The inventor of this automaton is unknown, but someone who was stimulated by Yoshino Dayu’s mechanical crab (ref: BLOG 13) might make it.

The survived oldest record of the tea serving doll is one of haikai renga (linked short poems) written by famous novelist Ihara Saikaku (1642-93). The poem was written in 1692 as follows:

Cha wo hakobu  　　    (Carrying tea
Ningyo no kuruma   　  Wheels of the doll
Hatarakite          　　    Work so)

Also, famous poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) made a haiku (short poem) as follows:

Ningyo ni                     (By the doll
Cha wo hakobasete       Tea was delivered
Kado suzumi                 A breeze enjoyable here)