Japan, circa 1885
attributed to Adolfo Farsari

Tea was brought from China to Japan in the 6th century, but it wasn’t until the 16th century that the great master of Japanese tea rituals, Sen no Rikyu, developed a ceremony that reflected the simple and quiet traditions of the Buddhist religion upon which it is based. Attributed to the Italian photographer Adolfo Farsari, this image captures an apprentice geisha (seated and looking into the camera), in the beginning stages of learning the complexities of this ceremony that can take years to fully master.