Meet The Makers: The Japanese-born potter making Yorkshirefolk cherish their crockery from making new friends in college Watch Video

⏲ Duration: 3:24
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✓ Published: 07-Jun-2024

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There was a time not so long ago when tableware was displayed as the prized possession of households across Britain; fine china used only on special occasions and promised one day to younger relatives proudly adorned dining room cabinets. <br/>More recently, many of those inherited collections have found<br/>themselves forgotten or retired. In the twenty-first century, screen time and throw away culture has eroded the ritual of sitting around a table together at meal times. <br/>In many homes people opt for teas-on-knees while ready-meal packaging and mass-produced supermarket-bought plates have taken the place of the previously treasured dishes.<br/>It's a lack of connection to our tableware that Japanese born potter<br/>Makiko Hastings noticed when she first moved to the UK. <br/>Working from her studio in Knaresborough, she hopes her lovingly<br/>crafted wheel-thrown pieces will encourage a new way of using and<br/>cherishing our crockery.<br/>“One way of looking at pottery is that some people might want to have a collection and treat it like art to look-at, but I want my pottery to be used in daily life,” she explained. <br/>“That’s because the food culture in Japan is quite deep. Table gathering was an important part of my childhood.”<br/>“Over here everything was on the one plate and then quite casually it was just eat and done with - or otherwise people have set tableware and everything is just pristine, and for me that’s kind-of too polite or too posh. It’s not really living life.<br/>“I want my work to be part of daily life so people feel comfortable with it and cherish it.”<br/>Makiko embraces the slow process of pottery. <br/>New collections are never rushed to meet commercial demands - “ideas just come when you’re not trying to think. It just comes when you’re on a bus or walking and then eventually I’ll formulate how I want it.”