Kyoto Porcelain, Sometsuke Blue
Kyoto ware carries the meeting of imperial culture and Zen restraint, refined by tea masters. This white porcelain rice bowl wears a glossy glaze, sometsuke blue diamonds edged in gold, a geometric band and key-fret foot — a rounded, delicate form of antique elegance.
Born of Kyoto’s Heritage: This piece too is authentic Kyo-yaki pottery, handcrafted using time-honored techniques and refined by centuries of Japanese artistry.
Learn more → The Art and Technique of Kyoto Ware
Restored Within a Lineage
A contemporary practitioner of a centuries-old craft, lacquer artist Saki Moriyama completed graduate studies in urushi at Kyoto City University of Arts (est. 1880), mastering the full discipline, woodworking through gold application. Grounded in this training and the Kyoto Municipal Institute's successor program — a selective course transmitting traditional urushi craft to the next generation — she restored this bowl over four months with natural urushi and 24K gold, the deep luster of roiro completing the seams, guided by methods Japanese lacquer artists have refined over generations.
Where Gold Meets the Pattern
The gold seams cross the painted blue diamonds, drawing the restoration into the vessel's own geometry. Urushi, not the gold, binds the porcelain. The fracture now belongs to the pattern — this bowl could not exist without having been broken.
