Giyaman 7-inch plate

At a glance

- Mino-yaki (美濃焼), Toki City, Gifu; by Kaneko Kohyo (カネコ小兵製陶所), founded 1921
- Giyaman series: glass-like glaze over hand-carved chrysanthemum mould lines
- 20.5cm wide; available in blue, brown and green; glaze pools differently on each piece

Giyaman (ギヤマン) was the word used in Edo Japan for imported glass, borrowed from the Dutch 'diamant'. The name captures exactly what this glaze does: it has the depth and luminosity of glass, catching the light from within rather than reflecting it from the surface.

Made by Kaneko Kohyo (カネコ小兵製陶所) in Toki City, Gifu, a family business founded in 1921 now in its fourth generation at the heart of Mino-yaki, Japan's largest ceramic region. The Giyaman series begins with a plaster mould carved by hand in millimetre detail to create chrysanthemum lines that radiate from the centre of the plate. The glaze, refined over two and a half years of testing, settles into these lines during firing and pools at different depths, producing colour that shifts and deepens across the surface. Gas-kiln fired at Mino, each piece is glazed on site. At 20.5cm wide, the plate suits a main course, a generous dessert, or anything that benefits from a surface worth looking at. Available in blue, brown and green.