Plates

Antique Iron-Glazed Square Dish with Molded Plum Blossom, Brown Stoneware Kozara, Edo to Meiji Japan

A small square dish the colour of dark chocolate, pressed in a mould some time in the 1800s.

In the centre, a plum blossom, five petals turning like a pinwheel, raised from the clay rather than painted on it. Around the walls, rows of combed feather marks radiate up to the rim. The whole surface wears a deep iron-brown glaze that shifts between chestnut, olive and near-black depending on the light. Small white flecks in the glaze are where the clay pushed through, and the rim has a few old chips worn smooth, the kind a piece collects across a century and a half of being picked up and put down.

Flip it over and there's a neat square foot ring, wiped clean of glaze so it wouldn't stick in the kiln, showing the pale sandy clay underneath.

The plum blossom is the flower of late winter in Japan. It blooms in the cold before anything else dares to, which made it a symbol of endurance and quiet good luck. Pressed into a rough brown dish rather than painted on fine porcelain, it feels less like a decoration and more like a stamp of encouragement.

Measurements & materials

Weight

83 g (2.9 oz)

Ready to ship. Packed and sent from Japan.

• Found in Japan, and the only one of it we have
• Condition described honestly, flaws photographed
• Shipped insured and tracked, worldwide
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Return it within 7 days of delivery, unused and in its original packaging. Return postage is paid by you. Full policy.

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Ships from Japan. Cost is calculated at checkout from your address; import duties and taxes in your country are not included. Shipping & returns in full.