Chiisaki Hanaire Wooden Flower Vase, Natsume

A diminutive wooden flower vase, hand-turned by Hiroyuki Inoue at Atelier Akarino-Tane in Asahikawa, amongst the highlands of central Hokkaido. This vase follows a classic Japanese pattern — this one is called Natsume, and is shaped after a JuJube, a style of tea caddy used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Traditionally seasonal flowers would be placed into such vases and allowed to dry and wither (the vase should be used without water), celebrating their transient beauty and the ineluctable passing of the seasons. Just a few centimetres high, this vase will hold the tiniest of spring flowers.