Large Japanese Oval Bonsai Tray, Bonsai-bachi, 1980s

A beautiful, classically shaped, unglazed oval bonsai tray.

Dimensions: height 4 cm, width 48.5 cm, depth 37 cm.

The tray is made from a hard, red-brown clay in the typical Tokoname style: a deep, warm brown to reddish-brown tone that develops a soft, matte surface over years of use.

It has three large drainage holes, as you would expect from a quality bonsai pot. The wall rises gently and diagonally towards a slightly widened rim, giving the piece a calm, classical profile that keeps the tree or planting visually in focus. On the underside there is an impressed potter’s seal, indicating a piece from a specialised workshop.

This tray is of course still perfectly suited for bonsai – ideal for a forest planting, a landscape composition or a larger kusamono. In a contemporary interior it can also work as a strong sculptural object: for example as a low fruit bowl, a centerpiece on a wooden table, or as a base for a minimalist still life with stones, branches or moss.