Kutani Ware Fish Shaped Plate

At a glance

- Kutani yaki (九谷焼) porcelain, Harekutani, Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture; overglaze colour tradition begun with Ko Kutani, the earliest Kutani style, in the early Edo period (1603 to 1868)
- Whole dish shaped like a fish, not a round plate with a fish drawn on it; yellow carries fine red scales on a cream ground, blue carries narrow stripes and dots, purple carries soft lavender stripes with an orange red fin
- Approx. 26 x 12.2cm; presented in a branded gift box; hand wash recommended

Like Harekutani's cat shaped dishes, this Sakana (fish) piece is not a round plate with a fish drawn on it; the whole dish takes the shape. In yellow, fine red scales cover the body on a warm cream ground, with a pale gold fin breaking up the pattern like a flash of movement, echoing tai, the sea bream that is a fixture at Japanese celebrations, prized as much for its pun on medetai, meaning auspicious, as for its flavour. In blue, narrow stripes run the length of the fish, broken by a scatter of small dots and finished with a teal fin, a crisper and more graphic reading of the same shape, drawing on blue, one of Kutani gosai, the craft's five traditional colours. In purple, soft lavender stripes curl gently along the body with looping details that read almost like waves, set off by a vivid orange red fin, a paler, softer reading of murasaki, purple, another of Kutani's five, rarely seen at all on tableware outside Japan.

This comes from Harekutani, a Kutani ware label only a few years old, made by Kitano Toujudou, who have dealt in Kutani ware from Nomi City, Ishikawa, since 1972.

At 26cm, it holds a whole grilled fillet with ease, though cheese and crackers, a run of canapes, or a plate of crudites down the table suit it just as well. Presented in a branded gift box.