ALEXCIOUS

400 years of porcelain innovation in a palm-sized plate

Dining & Snacking Japanese Style

Meals in Japan are often served on an array of small dishes, each to present a single delicacy. IMARI Small Plates are typically used for soy sauce, hors-d'oeuvres, pickles, and other culinary tidbits. They are also lovely pieces on which to serve nuts, sweets, cakes, cookies, etc.

Japan Snow

Referring to the whiteness of its tough porcelain, the IMARI Small Plate sets of the Japan Snow collection feature auspicious motifs of historical importance in the Far East together with genuine matte platinum.

Choose Prosperity, Longevity or both! - Prosperity Set

Four Small Plates for prosperity: Kara-kusa (foliage scrolls representing new life), Ocean Waves (endlessly beautiful), Young Bamboo (flexible), and Net (never-ending).

Lift your sushi choices out of the ‘ Cuisine Box’ and place them on the ‘ Side Plate’ When you’re ready to eat, dab your sushi in a little wasabi (Japanese green mustard) dissolved in soy sauce served on a ‘Small Plate’. Savor the delicate flavors while admiring the craftsmanship and sheer beauty of historically correct porcelain pieces with an up-to-date edge.

Japan Snow by Arita Porcelain Lab

To suit modern sensibilities, Satoru Matsumoto (7th generation proprietor of the historic Yazaemon Kiln) envisioned a chic, more durable collection of Arita-yaki (IMARI) porcelain with cool color combinations based on traditional patterns. The natural matte white porcelain of the dish, 1.5 times more dense than usual, is combined with traditional auspicious designs finished in genuine matte platinum. Maintaining the high quality of the kiln’s heritage, the ‘ Small Plate’ sets have a cool elegance perfect for the tasteful interiors of 21st-century homes.

Arita-yaki (IMARI) Porcelain

Arita-yaki was Japan’s very first porcelain. Originating in the town of Arita on the southern island of Kyushu, Korean potters first discovered kaolin there in 1616. Techniques were developed and refined to produce porcelain ware with a uniquely Japanese flavor. The industry grew to become world famous and continues to be fired in the Arita area.

Yazaemon Kiln

Founded in 1804 by one Yazaemon Matsumoto, the Yazaemon Kiln (as it came to be known) has specialized in creating the elaborate gold painted designs on white porcelain, for which IMARI (Arita-yaki) is world famous. Though export of Yazaemon IMARI ceased during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), it has resumed in recent years with Gold IMARI pieces being well received both domestically and overseas. Under the current proprietor’s leadership, the Yazaemon Kiln has become the country's largest producer of Arita-yaki porcelain, and is known in Japan for its museum-quality pieces.

Early IMARI Exports>

Beginning in 1650, Arita-yaki porcelain was exported through the Dutch West India Company from the port of Imari, and hence became known as IMARI. Enjoyed throughout much of Europe, the most famous of IMARI’s many patrons was Augustus II (Elector of Saxony / King of Poland). Admiring the pieces so much, indeed believing they were equal in value to silver and gold, he ordered alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger to produce pieces in Germany. Marking the origins of Meissen porcelain, after much trial and error by his predecessor, Bottger finally succeeded.