Tobe Porcelain Teacup - Karakusa

Tobe-yaki, a famous style of white porcelain made in Tobe, Ehime Prefecture has been produced since 1775. This teacup was made in one of the oldest kilns in Tobe, Baizangama. To produce the porcelain, clay bodies are first formed by hand by expert potters then air-dried for several days before initial bisque firing at temperatures over 900 degrees Celsius in a noborigama, (a ‘climbing kiln’) built with large, heat-resistant bricks, that slightly expand when heated. Once the porcelain has cooled, its blue patterns are made with an underglaze method using gosu, an indigo blue pigment made of a mixture of cobalt oxide and other components. The pigment is then covered in a transparent glaze and fired again at over 1200 degrees Celsius. The red colours are made using an overglaze method, most often using red enamel paint on top of the fired glaze. Tobe-yaki has been highly praised by Yanagi Sōetsu, the founder of the Mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan, as well as famous potters such as Hamada Shōji, for its utilitarian beauty and characteristic hand-painted decorations. These patterns are drawn using a technique called tsuketate-kaki (contourless drawing) which does not begin with outlining, and where each brush stroke creates its own thickness of painted line.

Not microwave or dishwasher safe.

Size: H9 cm x Ø6.5 cm

Shikoku

The island of Shikoku is divided into four prefectures. All of these can be visited on the 88-temple Buddhist pilgrimage around the island. The area is also home to Naoshima, a small island in the Inland Sea, known for its many contemporary art installations and museums while the Tokushima Prefecture is famous for its cultivation of Japanese indigo.