KOSOMETSUKE Rice Bowl, Antique Indigo Reed Stripe

At a glance

- Arita-yaki (有田焼), Saga Prefecture; by Kihara (キハラ), Arita
- Gosu (呉須) underglaze blue applied freehand; intentionally imprecise early Imari style
- 11.5cm wide; hand wash only; microwave safe

A bowl that looks like it came from another century and is better for it.

KOSOMETSUKE's ko-some tokusa pattern takes its visual cue from the early Japanese-Dutch trade ceramics of the 17th century: slightly absorbed blue, freehand lines with the natural variation of a trained hand, a surface that feels more like something from a museum collection than from a production run. The pattern's straight, reed-like lines take their name from tokusa, or horsetail rush, a plant whose straight, ribbed stems have been translated into ceramic and textile pattern since ancient Japan, associated with vigour, honesty, and the natural world.

The rice bowl form (11.5cm diameter, 7cm deep) is sized for a generous serving but intimate enough to hold comfortably with both hands. In a UK kitchen: an everyday breakfast bowl for porridge or yoghurt, a soup bowl for a quick lunch, a small rice or noodle dish in the evening.

For anyone who finds most commercially produced ceramics visually flat, this is the alternative.

Made in Arita, Saga Prefecture. Dishwasher safe.