Kiku Serving Plate Dai — a Hidehira-nuri serving plate with painted chrysanthemums, dry-brushed clouds and gold-leaf diamonds on black

Why this plate

This is a serving plate from Marusan Shikki, 275 mm across, sized for the middle of a shared table or for a stand on a shelf. The flat black well takes fruit or sweets for several people, and the low rim keeps everything in place without getting in the way of serving. The workshop says it is well received as a gift and as a plate to display, and between meals it holds its own on a stand, where the gold and the red catch the light of the room.

The pattern

Hidehira-nuri is a lacquer tradition from near Hiraizumi in Iwate, built on gold leaf and hand-painted motifs over a lacquer ground. On this plate the motifs take turns around the well, six in all, and the centre is left plain black. Three cloud-shaped panels of reddish-brown lacquer each carry crossed bars and four squares of gold leaf in the yūsoku-hishi manner, a pattern of linked diamond shapes. Between them sit three sprays of chrysanthemums, painted by hand, two yellow-gold flowers each on red stems with red leaves and grasses trailing behind. Just inside the rim runs a band of the same red, laid down with a dry brush so the stroke breaks and fades: the kasure-gumo, or faded cloud, which the workshop entrusts to its experienced painters, since getting the break of the stroke right takes years of practice. Kiku means chrysanthemum, and Dai means large, though at 275 mm this plate sits a step below the Shaku and Shaku-ichi plates in the same collection, which carry the motifs in a different arrangement.

The workshop

Marusan Shikki has worked in Hidehira-nuri since 1904, from a workshop in Ichinoseki now in its fifth generation. The plate is turned from tochi, Japanese horse chestnut, and then built up by hand in lacquer before the gold leaf and the painted motifs go on.

What to know before you buy

As with any urushi lacquerware, wash by hand in lukewarm water with a mild detergent, and keep it away from the microwave and dishwasher. For the first two to three months, start with lukewarm rather than very hot food or drink so the lacquer settles in gradually. Dry with a soft cloth, skip long soaking, and store away from direct sunlight.

Details

Sold as a single plate. It measures W275 × D275 × H43 mm and weighs about 360 g. Made to order and shipped from Japan via DHL, with a lead time of approximately two months.

If a plate this size would earn its place at your table, you can order it below. Any questions on sizing or care are welcome; we read and answer every message ourselves.