Kutani overglaze painting meets the expansive bowl of a Burgundy wine glass.

Kaburaki Kutani Ware Romanée-Conti Glasses combine a large crystal wine bowl with a hand-painted porcelain stem, bringing Japanese decorative craft into the ritual of fine wine.

IMAMI presents two distinctly different interpretations:

• Takayuki Hasegawa — “Stained Glass Green” | ¥250,000 incl. tax
• Erika Ota — “Red Overglaze Geometric Pattern” | ¥275,000 incl. tax

The glass form is the same, yet the two artists take it in opposite directions: one through bold blocks of colour, the other through extremely fine red-line painting.

Kaburaki: bringing Kutani ware into wine culture

Kaburaki has long worked with Kutani ware in Kanazawa while also developing original glassware that brings the tradition into Western drinking culture.

The construction pairs a crystal-glass bowl with a Kutani porcelain stem decorated by hand.

The clear bowl allows the wine’s colour and aroma to remain central, while the porcelain stem introduces the colour, line and painterly detail of Kutani ware.

Why call it a Romanée-Conti glass?

The Romanée-Conti glass uses an exceptionally generous, rounded bowl.

A broad wine surface increases contact with air, while the large bowl gives complex Pinot Noir aromas room to expand — particularly useful for mature Burgundy and Grand Cru wines.

Kaburaki’s version combines that expansive format with a Kutani porcelain stem, turning a functional Burgundy glass into a work of decorative craft.

For the wine that gives the glass its name, see our feature on Romanée-Conti 2017.

Takayuki Hasegawa “Stained Glass Green” | ¥250,000

Takayuki Hasegawa’s glass is defined by a stained-glass-like composition.

Green, yellow, blue, pale aqua and white are divided by dark outlines and spread radially across the foot and lower stem.

The clear bowl remains visually quiet above, while the base carries a concentrated burst of colour below.

Hasegawa is a certified Kutani traditional craftsman. Alongside established Kutani traditions such as Yoshidaya and Ko-Kutani, he is also known for contemporary work inspired by stained glass and vivid tropical imagery.

That willingness to translate Kutani colour into a graphic, modern language is especially clear in this piece.

Erika Ota “Red Overglaze Geometric Pattern” | ¥275,000

Erika Ota’s approach is almost the opposite: a restrained white porcelain ground animated by fine red overglaze painting.

A dense geometric field covers part of the foot, while larger linked outlines climb upward along the stem.

From a distance the composition feels calm and minimal; viewed closely, it reveals an extraordinary accumulation of hand-drawn lines.

Ota trained in ceramics and design in Kyoto before working in Kutani overglaze painting. She has built a distinctive style around flowers, living forms, mandala compositions and geometric motifs, and is recognised as a leading artist of a new generation of akae-saibyo, or fine red overglaze painting.

Colour versus line

Placed side by side, the contrast is immediate.

Hasegawa’s Stained Glass Green is built through colour fields and dark outlines.

Ota’s Red Geometric Pattern depends on negative space and microscopic red linework.

One emphasises colour, the other drawing; one is extroverted, the other meditative. The same Romanée-Conti glass becomes two completely different objects through the hand of the artist.

A design completed when wine is poured

These are not objects intended only for display.

Once red wine enters the large transparent bowl, ruby or garnet tones appear above the painted Kutani stem.

The colour of Burgundy and the colour of Kutani ware occupy the same vertical composition, allowing the drink itself to become part of the visual design.

Not only for Romanée-Conti

Despite the name, the glass is not limited to Romanée-Conti.

Its generous bowl suits aromatic Pinot Noir, mature Burgundy and other complex red wines that benefit from greater aeration.

It is a vessel for occasions when the glassware is intended to be part of the experience surrounding a special bottle.

Kaburaki Kutani Ware Romanée-Conti Glasses

• Stained Glass Green / painted by Takayuki Hasegawa | ¥250,000 incl. tax
• Red Overglaze Geometric Pattern / painted by Erika Ota | ¥275,000 incl. tax

Japan | Ishikawa | Kutani ware | Kaburaki | Wine glass | Porcelain stem × crystal-glass bowl | Hand painted

European wine culture and the painted tradition of Kutani meet in one unusually large wine glass. Takayuki Hasegawa’s vivid colour and Erika Ota’s precise red linework reveal just how differently two artists can interpret the same form.

Available at IMAMI

IMAMI carries fine wine, whisky, sake and Japanese drinking vessels including Edo Kiriko, Arita ware and Kutani ware. For product availability, please enquire at IMAMI Ginza, IMAMI Shinsaibashi, or contact us.

As these are hand-painted works, availability and individual variations may differ.