details
A small tool with a very long history.
This traditional Japanese ceramic mixing tray is shaped like an ume — or plum blossom — with separate wells that make it easy to mix, dilute, and keep several colors working at once. The flower-shaped form isn’t merely decorative; it creates an efficient little palette that has long suited Japanese ink and watercolor techniques.
Made in Japan, the smooth ceramic surface gives paint a clean, non-porous place to mix and is easy to rinse between uses. Unlike a disposable plastic palette, it has enough weight to stay put while you work and enough beauty to happily remain on the desk afterward.
At $15, this is one of those wonderfully simple objects where the value is easy to see: ceramic rather than plastic, reusable for years, traditionally shaped for the task, and useful with gansai, watercolor, ink, and other water-based media.
Pair it with the Nakagawa gansai paints, a good brush, and an empty afternoon.
- Traditional ume / plum-blossom shape
- Multiple wells for mixing and diluting color
- Reusable ceramic construction
- Suitable for watercolor, gansai, and ink
- Easy to clean
- Made in Japan