When we first came upon the ceramics of Nobue Ibaraki, we were entranced… There was so much grace and humility abounding from her shapes, we wondered for a moment if we had stumbled upon long lost vessels from Mesopotamia or Ancient Greece. Rather than chase the crystalline glamour of high fire ceramics, Nobue has dedicated herself to the art of earthenware. We immediately contacted her to acquire a few pieces for the stores. Over a year later, we are happy to announce the arrival of a large body of work straight from her studio in Sano, Japan, a small city north of Tokyo.

Born in Niigata, Japan, Nobue studied fashion design before finding her calling in ceramics. In her small home studio, she gathers clay locally and then shapes it by hand to achieve her organic forms. Her unique tonal finishes are the result of the alchemy that occurs during firing, developing from the reaction between the cobalt and copper of the glazes and the iron-rich clay of the vessels. In addition to being sought after globally, her accolades include being commissioned by the famed Noma Kyoto to create all of their dinnerware.