Most vases have one job. This one has two, and it does both with the kind of quiet confidence that only comes from genuinely good design.
The form is a solid rectangle in dark hammered Shigaraki ceramic, the surface dimpled and textured like beaten metal, the colour a deep slate grey with warm undertones that shift depending on the light. Stand it upright and the narrow opening at the top accepts a single stem or a small arrangement, tall and architectural on a shelf or mantelpiece. Lay it on its side and the opening becomes a horizontal slot facing outward, completely transforming the object into something lower, wider, and more sculptural.
Same piece. Two entirely different expressions. The kind of thing you rearrange on a shelf on a Sunday afternoon because both configurations are genuinely worth looking at.
The Shigaraki provenance means the texture is not decorative. It is structural, the result of the clay and the kiln rather than a finish applied afterward. Up close the surface has the character of something that has been through something, which is exactly what good Shigaraki pottery is supposed to feel like.
This is the most architecturally considered piece in the Concept Japan range and it will appeal to a buyer with a strong design sensibility. Someone who thinks about their shelves.
Handmade in Shigaraki, Japan. 15.5 x 4.5 x 9cm.
