Gold Accent Lotus Blue and White Tall Cup

Singama Lotus Tall Cup — Blue and White Sometsuke Porcelain with Gold Accent

A tall porcelain cup for iced tea, water, or chilled sake — hand painted at Singama Kiln (眞窯) in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture.

A single lotus blossom is painted in cobalt blue across the white porcelain body, its center touched with gold. Deep indigo leaves give the composition weight and balance, while the partially unglazed surface lends the piece the quiet atmosphere of an ink painting. In Buddhist tradition the lotus rises from muddy water to bloom unstained — a symbol of clarity and renewal that has been carried through Japanese ceramics for centuries.

Sometsuke is made by painting with gosu, a cobalt-based pigment, onto white porcelain before a transparent glaze is applied and fired. Indigo tones shift with each potter's clay, glaze, and firing, so no two pieces are alike. Singama is known for the dami technique, in which gosu is laid down in fluid, brush-loaded strokes much like ink painting, drawing expressive depth from a single color. Founded in 1919, the kiln has built its reputation on this refined brushwork. In 1997, Seto Sometsuke ware was designated a Traditional Craft of Japan by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The gold detailing at the flower's center is applied by hand, and the unglazed areas are left by the potter's judgment — small variations between pieces are part of the work, not flaws.