Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:35 am
The best is to use a design/style only one time, but if there is a reason to repeat a pattern then the best is to use it three times. I don’t know if there is another meaning than the simple aesthetic reason ruling for example the unpair number of flowers in a bouquet with few flowers? In Europe there is a common knowledge that roses can be given with respect of number (1,3,5,7) . I think it meets the Japanese aesthetics of non-symmetry.
For example, raku is a very simple and elegant style for sadō teaware, but what would you think of a complete set of raku chawan, kensui, mizusashi, futaoki, chaire, hanaire...? Wouldn’t it be a little bit too much?
But if the tea practitioner has collected over the time fine pieces of different styles and can make his own composition when arranging pieces together, then it is not boring either ostentatious but shows the fine taste of the host.