Chopstick rest - Sauce

At a glance

- Arita-yaki (有田焼), Saga Prefecture, Japan's original porcelain tradition
- Shaped as a miniature sauce bottle; glossy overglaze finish
- The kind of thing guests notice and ask about

The sauce bottle in question is tonkatsu sauce: the deep, sweet-savoury condiment that comes with breaded cutlets across Japan, with its own unmistakable bottle shape. Here it is reproduced in Arita porcelain, about 3cm tall, glossy and precise.

Made in Arita-yaki (有田焼), Saga Prefecture, Japan's original porcelain tradition developed in the early 17th century. The fine shiroji (白地) porcelain body and precise glossy overglaze enamels are characteristic of Arita craft at its most playful: technically serious, deliberately unserious in form. As a chopstick rest it does its job neatly, keeping tips off the table. As an object, it does something more useful: it makes guests smile, then ask where it came from. Works well individually or as part of a set with the other condiment rests.