Slipware plate

As a child in Shikoku—the smallest of Japan’s four main islands—Aono Pottery founder Hiroko Aono-Billson often accompanied her mother on ceramic buying trips, a memory that continues to shape her practice. Today, she hand-builds vessels like this plate from her favored red earthenware clay. A painted slip forms the base for delicate sgraffito patterns, which are etched with precision and sealed beneath a warm honey glaze.