Aomori Akebia hand woven pot mat, 18cm

A circular pot mat, hand woven using Akebia vine in Aomori, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Akebia quinata — also known as Chocolate vine — is a semi-evergreen climbing shrub native to East Asia. It has been used for basket weaving for hundreds of years in a similar way to willow, although Akebia is twining and much thinner. This vine is painstakingly collected by hand, before being woven into traditional vernacular patterns such as this one. 18cm in diameter, this pot mat will accommodate a good-sized family casserole pot.