Add Color to Summer with Porcelains

Wherever you go in Japan, you’ll find pieces of tableware with a character all their own. They reflect the country’s cultural diversity and the vision of the artists who made them. Their presence adds sparkle to everyday surroundings. In this series, the owner of a tableware gallery showcases tableware that brightens your day and lends color to the season.

We recently visited Eto Aya, proprietor of the gallery Natsutsubaki, to ask her about porcelains, which are perfect for early summer. It was the middle of the rainy season, and the morning showers had let up. Raindrops glistened on the blueberries in the large vase in the garden.

Equally good at playing the starring role or filling the gaps

“Porcelain has a sleek, sharp look, which makes it perfect for summer,” says Aya. “Cool-colored items like celadon are especially well suited to early summer.” Even a single item of porcelain has a commanding presence, but porcelain has a further advantage: it possesses a beauty that brings out the best in the other tableware. “The pieces by Anzai Arata and Atsuko featured here have real class. They radiate dignity and elegance. They can be combined with wood, glass, and other robust materials to mutual advantage without clashing. They really come in handy for creating a table setting for summer. Traditional crockery of the weighty, sturdy type can make a dining table look impressive, but the wrong combination will result in an overheavy look. But even alongside the sturdiest tableware, porcelains like these look the part. They’re equally good at playing the starring role or filling the gaps.”

“Viewed in isolation, some of these dishes may leave you wondering what to do with them. They strike you as too plain and simple. When you actually serve food on them, though, they make it look delectable. They leave a completely different impression than when you see them on their own. The Anzais’ dishware commands a large following among cooking aficionados and culinary professionals because it nicely sets off the food.”

Another hallmark of the Anzais’ pottery is that it emanates a new aesthetic while conforming to classic porcelain styles. “The traditional and the new: a lack of either makes a piece ho-hum,” Aya observes. Because this crockery combines both, it has the versatility to highlight any cuisine. While nicely complementing Japanese food, it doesn’t seem out of place with Western food either.

Aya had this advice. “Deciding what dinnerware to use is like deciding what to wear. You can opt for your favorite outfit. Or you can have fun picking and choosing while considering how it goes with the rest of your wardrobe. Keep what you currently have in your collection at the back of your mind. So try creating a cool, refreshing look by jazzing up your table with porcelain. It’s a great accent for summer.”

Cuisine prepared by Matsumoto Akiko of Kaeru Shokudo