Pottery sake set in black glaze

The tokkuri (sake carafe) is one of the more considered objects in Japanese ceramic tradition — a vessel whose weight, surface, and pour all register in the hand during use. In Ryumonji's kuro glaze, the iron-rich Black Satsuma clay and the black glaze collected from the same Kagoshima mountains fire together into a surface that is dense and deeply reflective, the color varying between near-black and dark brown depending on the light.