Asahiyaki Green and Gold Chawan Hosai

A one-of-a-kind chawan from Asahiyaki, the Uji kiln that has been making tea ceramics in the heart of Japan's matcha country since 1600. Hosai is a bowl you notice before you taste anything: sage-green celadon, bare iron-rich clay and sweeps of brushed gold, all meeting on a single hand-shaped form.

The bowl

The outside is built from bold, overlapping panels. Soft sage celadon with a fine crackle, milky white glaze and raw, unglazed clay in warm russet brown sit side by side, and across them runs a broad stroke of brushed gold. The gold is applied by hand with visible brush marks and tiny pinhole speckles where it has fired, so it reads as molten and alive, not printed or flat. The rim is gently uneven and the sides are softly faceted, so the bowl changes character as you turn it in your hands.

Inside, the glaze is a calm, glossy celadon green with a delicate network of crackle. When whisked matcha fills it, the colour deepens at the centre and the foam sits against a green that feels made for it. The base is a raised foot (kodai) in raw, toasted clay, finished with the hand-trimmed marks of the potter.

Why it is so special

• Truly one of one. The patchwork of glazes, clay and gold is composed by hand and cannot be repeated. This is the only piece we have.
• Asahiyaki of Uji. Asahiyaki, Uji, Kyoto, has been making tea ware since 1600, in the town that gave the world its finest matcha.
• Signed and sealed. The paulownia (kiri) box is brush-inscribed by the maker, including the bowl type (chawan) and the date it was made, and carries a red seal. The same seal is stamped on the indigo cloth that wraps the bowl.
• Complete presentation. It arrives as it was meant to be given or kept: in its signed wooden box, wrapped in indigo cloth, with the kiln's own paper card and a purple and gold braided cord.

Care

Hand wash gently with warm water and no strong detergent. The gold is hand-applied, so avoid scouring, the dishwasher and the microwave. Dry fully before returning to the box.