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The Table of Japan
JAEN
Hagi ware tea bowl, 18th–19th century (Freer Gallery of Art)

TABLEWARE

Vessels as landscape

Porcelain, lacquer, glass — the vessel is the other half of the dish.

Hagi ware tea bowl, 18th–19th century (Freer Gallery of Art) — Photo: AnonymousUnknown author / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

At the Japanese table, the vessel speaks as much as the food. Changing vessels to suit the season and the dish is regarded as an essential part of Japanese cuisine.

Porcelain such as Arita ware from Saga, lacquerware such as Wajima-nuri from Ishikawa, glass such as Edo kiriko from Tokyo — each material gives the table a different face.

Solid-red Wajima-nuri lacquer rice bowl of Japanese zelkova
Solid-red Wajima-nuri lacquer rice bowl of Japanese zelkova — Photo: yuuki ゆうき(金野裕希) / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Alongside the food, this archive records the craft culture of the vessels that receive it.

Edo kiriko cut-glass drinkware
Edo kiriko cut-glass drinkware — Photo: Nesnad / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Further reading

Photo credits

  1. Hagi ware tea bowl, 18th–19th century (Freer Gallery of Art)

    Photographer / creator

    AnonymousUnknown author

    Source / licence

    Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

    AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

  2. Hagi ware at the studio and gallery of potter Yū Okada, Hagi

    Hagi, Yamaguchi

    Photographer / creator

    Kyle McDonald from Brooklyn, New York, USA

    Source / licence

    Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

    Kyle McDonald from Brooklyn, New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Displayed with colour adjustment

  3. Solid-red Wajima-nuri lacquer rice bowl of Japanese zelkova

    Photographer / creator

    yuuki ゆうき(金野裕希)

    Source / licence

    Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

    yuuki ゆうき(金野裕希), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Displayed with colour adjustment

  4. Edo kiriko cut-glass drinkware

    Photographer / creator

    Nesnad

    Source / licence

    Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

    Nesnad, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Displayed with colour adjustment