Shihō-zara Slab Plate Set by Nagai Ken

Description

Tamba-yaki is a style of high-fired, unglazed pottery originating more than 800 years ago in a remote and mountainous region west of Kyoto in Hyogo prefecture.  During the Edo era (1600-1868), Tamba tea bowls were used extensively by tea ceremony practitioners who appreciated their simple, austere beauty.  Because Tamba-yaki is unadorned and free of decorative elements, its beauty derives solely from the quality of the clay, also known as its "flavor", and how kiln dynamics are rendered upon it.

This set of slab plates by Nagai Ken is formed and fired in the Tamba tradition.  The intense heat inside Tenkū-gama, Nagai's noborigama climbing kiln, produces warm gradations of rust red to dark brown and small pebbles where feldspar crystals in the clay burst through.  Swirling embers of red pine fuse with the surface of the plates and produce a natural glaze, or shizen-yu, which is rough yet pleasing to the touch.

Full of warmth and rustic charm, these rectangular plates (shihō-zara) are ideal for serving guests delicately arranged appetizers and desserts.

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