Cone Small Yunomi/Tea Cup (Matte Cream White)

A palm-sized cup in warm cream — quietly glowing before the tea even arrives.

The Cone Small Yunomi from NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) is the espresso-sized cup in the Banko-yaki lineage from Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. The conical shape keeps lines clean and modern, pairing directly with the Sencha Kyusu series. The interior is glazed with a soft grey-white finish so you can follow the colour of your tea. Non-absorbent clay means no flavour memory between sessions, and the cups stack for neat storage.

Matte Cream White is fired using a revival of hakudei — "white mud" — a Banko-yaki clay formula that faded during the Showa era and was reblended by NANKEI. Chalky and warm new, the cream surface develops a subtle gloss the more it is used, warming slowly like something well-loved. At 80ml, it is sized for gyokuro or the first pour of a fine sencha.

Shipping

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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.