We received some wonderful photos from a customer who recently purchased a black bowl by Masao Akiya at our store.
This is a pork-based salad with a yuzu-kosho dressing. It looks absolutely delicious. Since the bowl is quite large, they mentioned it holds enough for four people.
This piece features a beautiful contrast between the exterior, with its earthy black slip-glazed texture, and the interior, which reveals the natural clay body with a 'goma' (sesame seed-like ash) finish. Since the interior is heavily speckled with ash, the customer noted that green leafy vegetables can look a bit dull, suggesting that warm colors like red and yellow really stand out against it.
It was a great learning experience for me, realizing that even with individual pieces of tableware, there is a certain chemistry with the ingredients that you only discover through actual use.
These are photos from when they used it to serve ramen on another day.
I thought it might be too large for a ramen bowl, but they said it is just right when piled with plenty of toppings.
We are truly grateful and delighted to see how they are enjoying using the piece in so many different ways.
Akiya-sensei’s tableware is crafted with great attention to the firing process, and its stylish appeal lies in how his unique sensibility is subtly incorporated into a simple form.
We will be introducing more of his work on our website soon, so please stay tuned.