Cheek Armor Cup, Tiger Form, Gold

Themed around Takeda Shingen, a legendary and representative Sengoku-era warlord, inspired by his nickname "Tiger of Kai."
Paired with the “Dragon of Echigo,” Uesugi Kenshin, this piece is rendered in gold.

Among Koga's works, the highly popular “Hoyoroi-hai (cheek-armor cup).”
Taking the motif of the eccentric helmets (kawari-kabuto) of Sengoku-era warlords, it expresses a person's way of life and spirit.

Chanoyu, the tea ceremony, developed as a comprehensive Japanese art tied to samurai refinement. Sake vessels developed as kaiseki tableware inheriting that lineage.
Koga describes this work as "a porcelain sake cup in the form of cheek armor, arrived at inevitably from the close ties among the tea ceremony, Sengoku warlords, and craft — ceramics in particular."