Traditionally, this shape would have been used as a vase and it is a mystery why it is called the “Aonamako” or “Sea slug” bowl, but the rich green Seto Oribe glaze with a splash of white Warabai rice husk glaze makes a vivid and attractive salad bowl or fruit bowl.
- 32cm Diameter, 6.5cm High
- Stoneware (see our Care Guide)
- Hand thrown at the Kuninari Kiln in Ishikawa prefecture on the North side of Honshū, the main island of Japan
Kuninari Kiln
The large bowls he makes for us originally started out as ikebana vases but they make fine (and perfectly safe) salad and fruit bowls. They range from a dark tenmoku glaze to two brighter green oribe glazes, both inspired by the birth of the tea ceremony.
Maeda san uses clay from his brother's paddy fields which he fires in a gas kiln. The tenmoku and oribe glazes are sometimes offset by his
warabai or rice husk ash glaze. Taking the left over rice straw after
his brother's family's rice harvest he will burn the rice straw and
refine the ash in water to create this textured off-white glaze.
Short and wiry but with a glint in his eyes, after getting through his
initial reserve, Maeda san is really fun to work with. Swallows
constantly flit in and out of his workshop where they build their nests
to try and escape the snakes. He also shares the workshop with his son who creates monolithic patterned sculptural pieces.
