Matcha bowl — Hagi ware chawan by Issai Saito

This matcha bowl (chawan) is handmade Hagi ware by Japanese potter Issai Saito, thrown in the Hagi tea-ware tradition. It measures 13 cm across and 8 cm high, and is glazed in the loquat-white wood-ash glaze characteristic of the ware. A fine kannyū crackle breaks across the wall and interior. The glaze thins at the rim and pools toward the base, where a diagonal cut exposes the raw reddish clay of the foot — a defining trait of Hagi. The porous body is prized in the tradition for the way it matures with use: tea settles into the crackle over years, and the bowl slowly deepens in tone. Thrown and glazed by hand. As with all Hagi ware, glaze pooling, crackle pattern, and surface tone vary from bowl to bowl; each is unique. Selected by Renaras, an Amsterdam atelier known for its work with Japanese ceremonial silk, directly from established Japanese artisans.