Shigaraki ware 20.5cm plate

At a glance

- Shigaraki-yaki (信楽焼) stoneware, Shiga Prefecture; by Yamasho Touki (ヤマ庄陶器)
- MINGEI series; natural speckled glaze with stone inclusions; each piece uniquely fired
- 20.5cm wide, 2.5cm deep; available in yellow, navy and white

Shigaraki clay is not refined. It contains stone inclusions that show through the speckled glaze, iron-rich patches that blush and shift in the kiln, and a surface character that comes from the path of the flame through the firing. No two pieces look the same.

Made by Yamasho Touki (ヤマ庄陶器) in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture. Shigaraki-yaki (信楽焼) is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns, a group of kiln sites with unbroken production histories stretching back over a thousand years. The MINGEI series reinterprets Shigaraki folk craft for modern life: familiar in character, contemporary in sensibility. The glaze is a natural speckled finish whose stones add surface expression and whose colour shifts where the flame passed through the kiln. No two pieces share the same finish. The MINGEI series takes its name from the mingei (民芸) folk craft movement and its guiding belief that objects made for daily use, made well and made honestly, carry their own beauty. At 20.5cm wide this plate suits a main course, a generous salad, or a shared arrangement. Available in yellow, navy and white. The kind of plate that looks better with food on it than off it.