Vintage Japanese Arita Binzen Porcelain Inkwell & Tray Set, Blue & White Tako

Vintage Japanese Arita Binzan Porcelain Inkwell & Tray Set — Blue & White, Tako Karakusa

A refined and diminutive three-piece scholar's desk set — inkwell bottle, stopper, and square tray — produced at the Binzan Kiln in Arita, Japan, during the Showa period (mid-20th century). The Tako Karakusa or octopus vine arabesque pattern is one of the most enduring and technically demanding of the Arita blue-and-white design vocabulary, its flowing, interlocking tendrils demanding a practiced hand to execute with fidelity. Here, in a Sometsuke underglaze blue technique on fine porcelain, the pattern is rendered with the fluency and depth characteristic of the Arita kilns at the height of their Showa-era production. Weighing only 191g in total and measuring 6cm square and 8cm tall, the set is small in scale but immense in precision and refinement — an exceptional piece for collectors of Japanese ceramics, scholar's objects, and desk accessories.