Column Yunomi/Tea Cup (Matte Cream White)

Soft, warm, and faintly luminous — the kind of white that improves with years of use.

The Column Yunomi from NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) is a cylindrical tea cup made in the Banko-yaki tradition of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. Clean lines, 240ml capacity, works equally well for tea, a small dessert, or whatever finds its way to the table. The clay itself does not absorb water, so each cup stays odour-free no matter what you brew in it.

Matte Cream White is fired using a revival formula of hakudei — "white mud" — a Banko-yaki clay that disappeared during the Showa period (1926–1989) and was recently reblended by NANKEI. The cream-white surface is matte and slightly chalky when new, but with regular use it develops a gentle gloss, as the clay takes on the warmth of your hands and the oils in your tea. This is a cup that slowly becomes more itself.

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South of Nagoya, along the shore of Ise Bay, Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture has been a centre for Banko-yaki since the eighteenth century. The city's iron-rich clay and long firing tradition gave rise to a distinct stoneware character — dense, unglazed surfaces that age quietly with use. 南景製陶園 (Nankei Pottery) has worked within this tradition for decades, using a proprietary clay formula that has remained unchanged for more than fifty years. High-temperature yakishime firing drives off virtually all porosity, leaving a body that is hard, smooth to the touch, and subtly warm in colour.

The forms Nankei designs are spare and considered — nothing added that does not serve the tea. A kyusu pours cleanly; a yunomi sits without fuss in the hand. That restraint comes not from minimal effort but from sustained attention to proportion and weight. If you want to learn more about the people behind the work, our Behind the Sip article on Nankei Pottery goes further: Nankei Pottery — Banko-yaki in Yokkaichi.