Animal Sake Cup Set of 5 — Kyoto

Pour the sake and a panda lifts its head. A polar bear settles into its bath. Tada Seizo’s cups do not show you what they are until the cup is full.

Two pandas and three polar bears. Pass them round a table of five, or keep them all and choose by mood.

What is in the set (5 pieces)

• Panda Sake Cup, White ×1 — approx. 5.9cm diameter × 3.9cm high
• Panda Sake Cup, Grey ×1 — approx. 5.9cm diameter × 3.9cm high
• Polar Bear Sake Cup, White ×1 — approx. 5.9cm diameter × 4.6cm high
• Polar Bear Sake Cup, Night-Sky Blue ×1 — a moon inside, at its best with cloudy nigori sake
• Polar Bear Sake Cup, Matte Grey ×1 — a second glaze on the rim alone

The white interiors let you read the colour of the sake before you drink. The glaze on the matte grey runs differently in every firing.

About the maker

Kyoto | Tada Seizo, Rakudo

Tada Seizo designs and makes ceramics around animals at the Rakudo studio in Kyoto.

“What I find value in,” Tada says, “is design that has been thought all the way through.” A refined form on one side, an easy and companionable design on the other; when the two meet in daily use, what was made becomes a work. Underneath it is a conviction that objects which move you make daily life better — which is why these cups keep what they are to themselves until the sake is poured.

Each cup is made by hand, so no two wear the same face.

See everything by Tada Seizo