Seto-Yaki Cup & Saucer Set — Hand-Painted Floral Tripod Cup with Chibi-Mascot Motif by Maitōkan (Ø 11.6 × H 5.3 cm cup + 15.9 × 15 cm saucer, 250 ml)
Quick Facts
| PATTERN |
Hand-painted floral with chibi-creature mascot — yellow daisy-form flower + white pink-blushed companion bloom + green serrated leaves + small white chibi mascot (in the spirit of 雪兎 yuki-usagi snow-rabbit folk-motif; supplier does not name the species) |
| FORM |
カップ&ソーサー (cup & saucer set) — handled cup on three small tripod feet (三脚 / sankyaku) + matched soft-square saucer; Western-influenced creative-pottery form for coffee, tea, herbal infusions, or matcha-latte |
| MATERIAL |
Earthenware (陶器 / tōki) — supplier explicit; Seto-yaki body class; NOT porcelain. Earthenware is porous and absorbs small amounts of moisture — relevant for care |
| DECORATION |
Hand-thrown body; iron-line outline drawing; hand-painted yellow daisy-form + white pink-blushed bloom + green leaves + white chibi-creature mascot on cream-buff interior ground; coral-pink speckled hand-glazed cup exterior with drip texture; warm-brown iron-line rim wash on saucer |
| DIMENSIONS |
Cup: Ø 11.6 × 11.0 cm × H 5.3 cm (≈ 4.57 × 4.33 × 2.09 in)
Saucer: 15.9 × 15.0 cm (≈ 6.26 × 5.91 in) — soft-square / slightly irregular round |
| CAPACITY |
250 ml (≈ 8.45 fl oz) per cup — sized for a generous single coffee, tea, or matcha-latte pour with comfortable headroom |
| WEIGHT |
To be confirmed on first-unit dispatch (estimated ~250-350 g cup + ~350-450 g saucer based on earthenware-body norms at this size) |
| MANUFACTURE YEAR |
To be confirmed on first-unit dispatch (Maitōkan modern continuous production) |
| MAKER |
舞陶館 (Maitōkan / Buyō-kan) — creative-pottery brand working in the Seto-yaki tradition; impressed "舞陶館" maker stamp on saucer underside |
| TRADITION |
瀬戸焼 (Seto-yaki) — Aichi Prefecture; one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns (六古窯 Rokkoyō); METI National Traditional Craft sub-category designations: 瀬戸染付焼 Seto-sometsuke 1977 + 赤津焼 Akazu-yaki 1986; Heian-period origins; Momoyama-period flowering of 志野 Shino / 織部 Oribe / 黄瀬戸 Ki-Seto styles |
| ORIGIN |
Made in Japan — Aichi Prefecture, Seto City (瀬戸市) |
| PACKAGING |
トムソン箱 (Thomson box — die-cut paper gift box, the supplier's specified packaging for 碗皿 cup-and-saucer set configurations); includes original Japanese ceramics-care card 陶器の栞 by 創作陶器 舞陶館 |
| MICROWAVE |
No (earthenware porosity + rapid-heat moisture stress) |
| DISHWASHER |
No (detergent abrasion + thermal cycling damages porous body and hand-painted decoration) |
| OVEN |
No |
| RECOMMENDED CARE |
Hand-wash only — warm water + mild kitchen detergent per the maker's care card; dry thoroughly before storage to avoid moisture retention; avoid bleach; consider a warm-water pre-soak before first use (traditional Japanese earthenware practice) |
| HS CODE |
6912.00 (ceramic earthenware household tableware — NOT 6911.10 porcelain) |
About Seto-yaki
Seto-yaki is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns (六古窯 / Rokkoyō — Seto, Tokoname, Echizen, Shigaraki, Tamba, Bizen, as designated by ceramic scholar Koyama Fujio), and the only one of the six to have mastered glazed wares from the Heian period onward — while the others worked in unglazed natural-ash idioms, Seto kilns developed the foundational glaze repertoire for Japanese tableware ceramics. Two sub-categories within Seto-yaki carry METI National Traditional Craft designations: 瀬戸染付焼 Seto-sometsuke (blue-and-white underglaze porcelain, designated 1977) and 赤津焼 Akazu-yaki (Aichi's regional style, designated 1986). The kiln region's golden age came in the Momoyama period (late 16th c.), when the cultural rise of tea-and-floral arts (茶華道) drove the flowering of Seto's three most-celebrated historic glazes — 志野 Shino, 織部 Oribe, and 黄瀬戸 Ki-Seto — visual vocabularies that continue to inform creative-pottery makers like Maitōkan today.
About Maitōkan
Maitōkan (舞陶館 / Buyō-kan) is a creative-pottery brand from Aichi working in the Seto-yaki idiom. Their work crosses the line between functional tableware and small-scale folk-craft sculpture: hand-thrown shapes with character details, hand-painted decoration with iron-line drawing and lively color, and small mascot motifs that turn ordinary objects into companions. This cup-and-saucer set is part of their hand-painted floral series.
The pattern
The cup's interior shows a yellow daisy-form flower paired with a white companion bloom with delicate pink-blushed petal edges, set against a cream-glaze ground with a small white chibi-creature mascot looking on. The mascot — a round white silhouette with red-dot eyes and small upright "ears" — is in the spirit of the Japanese folk-motif yuki-usagi (雪兎 / "snow rabbit"), though Maitōkan does not name the species directly. The cup's exterior is finished in a coral-pink speckled glaze with hand-glazed drip texture, and the saucer mirrors the interior motif on a cream-buff ground, framed by a warm-brown iron-line rim wash. Iron-line outlines throughout give the painting its characteristic Seto-yaki creative-pottery handwriting.
The form — tripod cup
The cup sits on three small tripod feet (三脚 / sankyaku) — a less-common stance for Western-influenced creative-pottery cups, which gives the piece a light, lifted silhouette on the saucer. The cup has a handle and a slightly irregular wavy rim, both finished by hand. At Ø 11.6 × 11.0 × H 5.3 cm and 250 ml capacity, the cup is sized for coffee, tea, herbal infusions, or matcha-latte — comfortable for a generous single pour with one or two sugar cubes' worth of headroom.
About the body — earthenware (陶器)
This set is supplier-stated 陶器 (tōki / earthenware), the Seto-yaki body class for this Maitōkan line — distinct from porcelain (磁器 / jiki). Earthenware has a slightly porous body that absorbs a small amount of moisture, which is part of why creative-pottery makers favor it for the soft hand-glaze textures and tactile feel it allows. The supplier's care card (included with the set) explicitly notes the porosity ("陶器には吸水性がある") and recommends thorough drying after washing to avoid moisture retention. The exposed-clay underside of the saucer (visible on inspection) shows the warm brown-grey earthenware body.
Care
Earthenware (陶器) requires gentle care to age well. We recommend hand-wash only — warm water with mild kitchen detergent (per the maker's care card), soft cloth, then dry thoroughly before storage to avoid moisture retention in the porous body. Avoid the dishwasher (detergent abrasion + thermal cycling damages both the body and the hand-painted decoration), avoid the microwave (rapid heating of a porous body can produce internal moisture stress), avoid bleach, and store dry. Before first use, the maker's card suggests briefly soaking the piece in warm water — a traditional Japanese practice that helps the body settle into its glaze.
• Made by Maitokan / Seto-yaki in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, curated by ZenKiln.
About ZenKiln — A Japan-based curator connecting international collectors with Japan's artisan ceramic tradition. We work closely with the kilns, workshops, and makers featured in our shop — each one disclosed in our About section — and hand-pack every piece in Japan for safe delivery worldwide.
📦 Ships from Japan, hand-packed for safe delivery.
