Flower vase

One branch, set slightly off centre. In Japan that is usually the whole arrangement.

Which means the vase itself has to be worth looking at. Everything here holds its own when it is empty. Bare fired clay carrying the marks of the kiln, carved ridges, cobalt blue and white, the depth of bronze glaze. Set one on a shelf and the air in that corner changes.

A bud vase 10 to 15cm tall takes a single stem; over 20cm will hold a branch. Most are watertight, and the ones that are not are meant to take a glass insert. Yakishime is fired without glaze at around 1,300C until the clay itself stops water, so the roughness is texture rather than porosity. If you want the thinking behind Japanese arrangement, start with how to choose a flower vase.