Handcrafted Japanese Sake Cup (Guinomi), Satsuma Ware
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 5 cm
- Width 6.5 cm
- Weight 0.2 g
- Color Brown, Green
- Item Type Guinomi
- Material Ceramics
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Style / Tradition Satsuma-yaki
- Unique Work Yes
- Wooden Box Yes
No longer available
Description
Since the Momoyama period, Satsuma-yaki has stood for one of Japan's most elegant ceramic traditions, originally established by Korean potters in the Kagoshima region and later refined into courtly sophistication. This small sake cup bears the fine, creamy-white crackle glaze characteristic of classic Satsuma glazes, and shows a warm, olive-brown gradient along the upper rim that visually completes the wall.
The unglazed foot of reddish clay forms an appealing contrast to the pale glaze and hints at the care with which the piece was thrown by hand and fired. In raking light, the fine crackle structure of the glaze reveals an almost graphic pattern that gains character only with the years.
The Guinomi is delivered in a signed wooden box, which lends the piece additional value and is excellent for storage. Conceived as a compact drinking vessel for sake, it is equally convincing as a standalone collector's object for lovers of traditional Japanese ceramics from the Shōwa period.
