Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> This book was inspired by a hand-beaten brass spoon bought from Tokyo’s Mingeikan or Japan Folk Crafts Museum. Our spoon was one of a handful that were similar but different-not just useful but unique and without the flawless regularity of a machine-made object. The museum’s shop was no ordinary gift store; it contained a meticulously curated collection of handmade objects by present-day Japanese makers including ceramics glass paper and metalware. The Japanese concept of finding beauty in the imperfect and embracing the humble is called wabi-sabi. It is not a decorating style but a whole worldview. Walking through Mingeikan’s galleries wabi-sabi was abundantly present in the simple rustic shapes of early hagi ware glazed pottery or the highly tactile pitted cast-iron kettles. These objects seemed to have a soul not least because their little imperfections were the result of having been made by hand. Returning to Japan to take photographs for this book we found that wabi-sabi was alive and well in many Japanese homes; the frayed the weathered and the worn are embraced and ordinary practical objects are given elevated status by being displayed in a measured way. (MP)