Classic Tsubo

January 6, 2025

Vase made by my friend

My talented friend Liana made this vase for me last March. It’s a tsubo, which basically just means “pot” in Japanese, but the shape of a tsubo tends to be this narrower vase that blooms up to a larger top, and then smaller again for the opening.

The texture adds visual interest but also variance in how the vase feels in your hand. The darker brown glaze is applied liberally, filling in the textured surface and making it smooth. I like that the lighter glaze is brown with lots of yellow green undertones, and I also like the way the darker glaze drips into it, bringing more focus to the negative spaces formed.

The mouth is evenly shaped, and able to be used for ikebana arrangements, which I really appreciate. I recently made an arrangement with it, but I’m not posting it because my teacher didn’t give me final approval for it, and I was too busy (lazy) to redo it to get approval…

The base also stands out to me, because it is extremely small and juts out from the body of the vase. This seems really technically challenging to do (speaking from zero experience, just speculation). Liana has become a really impressive ceramicist.

Vase interior

I discovered recently that the inside of the vase is this oxidized blue, and has become one of my favorite aspects of the vase.

Thank you to my friend Liana for making this beautiful object!