Please note, this item is a unique piece.
This bowl matchaAdorned with a delicately gilded floral motif, it comes from the Akane-gama kiln, founded in Kyoto by Okada Kakei I (1901–2002) and now run by his daughter, Okada Kakei II (born in 1921). The name Akane (茜), which means "madder", evokes the deep and luminous red that the founder loved, a symbol of vitality and warmth.
Born into a family of kimono merchants, Okada Kakei II studied Japanese painting (nihonga) under Inoue Masaharu, a student of the great master Nishiyama Suishō. At the age of forty, she founded the Akane-gama kiln, wishing to create a dialogue between the painting techniques learned in her youth and the art of tea pottery.
The surface of this bowl is entirely decorated with gilded flowers executed using the kinsai technique, a method of decorating with gold powder or leaf inherited from the decorative arts of the Muromachi period. Formerly used in folding screens and paintings on sliding doors, and later in yūzen fabrics to enhance their brilliance, kinsai introduces a diffused light onto the ceramic, both sumptuous and subtle.
The delicate floral motifs, subtly distributed across the surface, form a field of gold with shimmering reflections. The richness of this composition lies not in opulence but in restraint: the delicacy of the lines, the depth of the black, and the vibrancy of the gold are balanced in a typically Kyoto-esque harmony.
Through this work, Okada Kakei perpetuates the spirit of his mother while asserting his own sensibility: a poetic approach where color, light and nature blend to express the fragile and ephemeral beauty of the world.
Matcha Bowl — Floral Gold Decoration (Kinsai)
Okada Kakei — Akane Kiln, Kyoto
This matcha bowl, delicately adorned with a floral gold design, was created at the Akane Kiln (Akane-gama) in Kyoto, founded by Okada Kakei I (1901–2002) and now led by her daughter, Okada Kakei II (born 1921). The name Akane — meaning “madder red” — reflects the founder’s love for warm, luminous tones symbolizing vitality and life.
Trained in Japanese painting (nihonga) under Inoue Masaharu, a disciple of Nishiyama Suishō, Kakei II later applied her pictorial background to ceramics, establishing the Akane Kiln at the age of forty to merge color, composition, and clay into a single art form.
The bowl is covered with a fine gold floral pattern executed in the kinsai (gold decoration) technique, which involves applying gold leaf or metallic powder — a process derived from the decorative arts of the Muromachi period. Originally used on folding screens and brocaded fabrics, kinsai brings to ceramics a distinctive radiance that combines refinement and depth.
The golden flowers, subtly spread across the entire surface, create a shimmering texture that captures and reflects light with gentle restraint. Through this work, Okada Kakei carries forward her mother’s artistic spirit while expressing her own: a poetic vision in which color, light, and nature unite to reveal the quiet brilliance of beauty itself.
