These blue-and-white Arita porcelain bowls are so beautifully made, their smooth glossy texture and gentle curves feel incredible to the touch.
Among the higher quality dishes of a 1940s ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), their "white" porcelain has an ever-so-faint hue of blue-green, while the elegant autumnal design of oak leaves and acorns are meticulously hand-painted in cobalt blue.
Our favorite feature is how the organic design wraps itself around each bowl as if growing up its sides, and creeps over the rim to continue inside. The previous owner of these pieces told us that the ryokan owner, her great aunt, was known for her particularly good taste in subtly unusual tableware.
Acorns were a food staple in ancient Japan. Today they are rarely eaten, though oak leaves are often used as a decorative wrap for kashiwamochi, a mochi-wrapped red bean paste sweet served on Children's Day. The association of acorns with children makes us think of the our Acorn Spinning Acorn necklaces, a lovely way to celebrate the cute shape of the nut.
Porcelain
Diameter 15cm x H8.5cm
