Plates

A plate is the thing you look at longest. It sits under the meal while you eat, and it is still there when the food is gone.

Every plate here was thrown one at a time. Shinogi ridges cut while the clay was still soft. Rims opened like petals. White slip pulled thin over red clay. Marks where ash settled in the kiln. No two carry quite the same expression, so putting a few side by side is what makes a table worth looking at.

Sizes are counted in sun: a 6-sun plate is about 18cm and takes a main course, a 7-sun about 21cm, a 9-sun about 27cm and works for sharing. The full conversion table is here. The ridges are shinogi, cut into half-dry clay one line at a time. Porcelain plates wash like any other tableware; slip-covered and unglazed pieces last longer with a hand wash and a full dry.