Karako Sauce Plate

This karako sauce plate is a captivating and unique piece, showcasing the traditional sometsuke blue and white porcelain. The plate now features hand-drawn and painted karako - Chinese-style depictions of children - displaying graceful shades of blue. These playful images of children are depicted with fine lines and gentle soft shades, bringing a heartwarming and whimsical touch to the center of the plate. The slightly curved rim adds sophistication to its design, enhancing its appeal when held. Surprisingly lightweight yet durable, this plate is perfect for daily meals as well as special occasions.

The shades of blue in the karako motifs display an exquisite gradation, achieved through careful painting by skilled craftspeople using brushes soaked in cobalt pigment. This technique allows the dye to flow naturally onto the porcelain, creating a gentle and soft shade of blue as it "sinks" into the clay. The outlines of the karako are drawn swiftly and with precision, using soft and fine brushes to capture the contours and delicate features of the children.

This small plate is suitable for serving or presenting side dishes. 

Kakusho Kiln

Kakusho Kiln is a historically prestigious kiln that used to serve the lordship of the Hirado Domain in the Edo Period (1600 CE–1868 CE). Kakusho Kiln has passed on the traditional art of sometsuke, blue designs on white porcelain, for more than 300 years.

Their lightweight and elegant porcelain is smooth to the touch, with a soft and gentle shade of blue kind to the eye.

Mikawachi ware, also known as Hirado ware, is a pottery made in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Known for its translucent white porcelain, it was highly popular in Europe during the trend toward Japanese crafts in the West in the 20th century. Mikawachi ware is remarkable for its delicate modeling techniques that push the limits of porcelain, such as openwork and relief carving, and for its beautiful painting that looks like a single piece of art.