How to source the best artisanal Japanese-inspired tableware
For a dinner setting that’s both elegant and personal, what better place to start than with Japanese tableware? Long valued for the way it elevates the creation and use of simple, utilitarian objects to an art form to be appreciated every day, it’s no surprise that this 16,000-year-old art form has found a resurgence of late.
A reflection of the Zen Buddhist philosophy of wabi-sabi that values imperfection and process, Japanese pottery offers an antidote to impersonal consumption, and presents new intellectual challenges, both for the artist and the person appreciating the art. As English potter Romy Northover described it to the New York Times: “In Western culture we’re always striving to see how close the hand can get to the precision of a machine, but once you create something immaculate, where do you go from there? Imperfection, on the other hand, has no limits.”
The result is highly personal, one-off pieces that convey a subtle sense of refinement noticeable to those with a discerning eye and that, when placed on the dinner table, create an entirely unique setting and experience. For those looking to source a few Japanese ceramics, and ceramics created with a similar mindset, here are our tips on how to start:
1. Think like a collector
Like an art gallery, the best stores selling Japanese ceramics, like Sara in New York, or Utsuwa Kaede, Pool+ and Amahare in Tokyo, will curate exhibitions that bring together artists whose aesthetics and ideas match. Other times, they will feature solo exhibitions, displaying the full range of a single artist’s work. It pays to follow not just stores, but also artists whose work you admire. Bear in mind that some pieces may only be available during the time of display for purchase, promising the allure of a one-of-a-kind collection to those open to making snap decisions.
2. Think seasonal
Companies like Hasami, an internationally-sold brand working with artisans in its namesake town in Nagasaki prefecture, will use the seasons to their advantage, offering final products rich in subtleties that would be impossible to replicate in a factory-made environment.
Meanwhile, stores like Utsuwa Kaede will tailor their exhibitions to the seasons. Similar to the way fashion houses will vary their fabrics and offerings according to the season, these stores will rotate their collection seasonally, for example with more glassware in summer, and lacquerware in winter. It’s a beautiful way of considering the tableware in tandem with the food and drink you’ll be savouring that time of the year.
3. Consider the details
No matter how small or how large, at the Japanese table, nothing is an afterthought. Purchasing artisan tableware means purchasing a work crafted through deliberate, highly considered processes of manipulating the clay, glazing it and firing it. Many artists will develop signature techniques, such as the New York-based artist Risa Nishimori, who favors nerikomi—the art of using different colored clays to create patterns, or artist Ken Shomura, whose work has been acquired by the British Museum and the Smithsonian for his role in preserving the cultural patrimony of Japan, and who is known for dying clay with red and indigo hues, creating soft, hazy patterns reminiscent of the way the light streaks across the sky at sunset.
Utsuwa Kaede en Tokyo, photo via Time Out Tokyo