A colorful Dutch copy of a sake cup by Dohachi Takahashi

Width: 5.9cm Height: 4.12cm

Colored Dutch painting sake cup - Takahashi Michihachi IX

1. Beauty of form: A neat, cylindrical sake cup that fits in the palm of your hand

The body is slightly narrower than the diameter, and the proportions are neatly shaped like a trumpet toward the base. The soft impression of the cream-colored clay and the stability of the high base combine to make it easy to grip and turn with one hand. The rim is slightly curved outward, allowing the sake to flow smoothly to the center of the tongue.

2. Glaze tone and colored painting: Vivid colored glazes that stand out against milky white glaze

The feldspar-based milky white glaze that covers the entire piece has a soft, semi-glossy texture. After a cobalt outline is applied, red, yellow, and green overglaze paints are baked on top, achieving both vivid coloring and a glossy glaze surface. The subtle bleeding of the cobalt outline gives the piece a warm feel that can only be achieved through hand painting.

3. Design: Arabesque floral patterns from the Netherlands

The arabesque pattern around the body is typical of "Holland copy," which originated from the designs of 17th century Dutch Delftware and Persian pottery. The eight-petal flower in the center contrasts crimson and yellow, and the four-petal flowers and buds scattered around it create rhythm. The slight wavering of the vine lines creates a light and playful feel to the hand-drawn design.

4. Techniques: Underglaze cobalt outline and overglaze firing

After bisque firing, the outline is drawn with cobalt pigment, and then a milky white glaze is applied and the piece is fired. This is a two-stage process, followed by re-firing at a low temperature to set the red, yellow, and green mineral-based topcoats. Takahashi Michihachi inherits the family tradition of colored painting, while carefully managing the balance of color development and the thickness of the paint, achieving an exquisite balance between bleeding and clarity.

5. Historical and cultural background: "Dutch taste" and Kyoyaki

In the late Edo period, Dutch ceramics, introduced through Dejima in Nagasaki, greatly inspired Imari and Kyo-yaki craftsmen. "Holland copies" were beloved at tea and drinking ceremonies as designs that copied exotic tastes while reconstructing them with a Japanese simplicity. Takahashi Dohachi IX reinterpreted this internationalism and playfulness in a modern form, elevating it into light-hearted tableware that looks great with an everyday evening drink.

The Takahashi Dohachi family has been known as a prestigious Kyoto ware color painting family since the late Edo period. The ninth generation master graduated from the Department of Clothing Design at Kyoto Bunkyo Junior College, majored in design, and then went on to the Department of Molding and Research at Kyoto Prefectural Ceramic Technical College, and further solidified his technical foundation at the Kyoto Industrial Research Institute.

In 1996, he began to study pottery under his father, Dohachi Yashiro, and began making pottery in earnest.

In 2012, he took on the name of the ninth Takahashi Dohachi.

His style, which combines the sense of form cultivated in clothing design with the traditional techniques of Kyoto ware, has breathed new life into the Dohachi family of pottery and displays a sophistication that stands out in modern tea ceremonies and gallery spaces.

This sake cup, where the serenity of the milky white glaze and the brilliance of the colored painting resonate with each other, is a masterpiece that beautifully brings out the transparency of cold sake and the amber color of hot sake. When you hold it in your hand, the contrast between the slight unevenness of the painting and the smoothness of the milky white glaze feels good on your fingertips, and the exotic atmosphere of the Dutch copy will decorate your table every time you look at it or drink from it. Please enjoy this sake for many years to come, and enjoy Takahashi Michihachi's outstanding colored painting techniques and the pleasure of "seeing".