“I hope people can experience the atmosphere of poetic art through design.”
— Grace Tong
In an era increasingly shaped by speed, HIUCHI proposes another rhythm. Founded in Hong Kong by designer Grace Tong in 2015, the studio emerged from a desire to return beauty, contemplation, and ritual to daily life. After years working within fashion and accessories design, Tong shifted her attention toward ceramics—objects capable of transforming ordinary moments into acts of reflection.
Named after the beauty of morning light, HIUCHI occupies the space between functional pottery and poetic landscape. Each vessel becomes a small environment unto itself, drawing inspiration from natural phenomena: moonlight reflected on water, drifting clouds, distant mountains, sea foam, snowfields, and changing skies.
Rather than producing tableware as mere utility, HIUCHI creates atmospheric objects—pieces designed to slow the pace of everyday life and encourage attention to the subtle beauty often overlooked.
Mantasy Moon Series
Archive Note
The Mantasy Moon Series transforms celestial observation into domestic ritual. Through delicate layers of glaze and softly shifting tones, Grace Tong recreates the luminous ambiguity of moonlight reflected across clouds and water.
Each vessel appears suspended between earth and sky. Pale blues dissolve into ivory, lavender drifts into silver, and surfaces glow with a softness reminiscent of dawn. The collection rejects precision in favor of atmosphere, capturing not the moon itself but the emotional experience of encountering it.
Companion Plates
OFTOIL A42.02
A vessel crowned with deep indigo glaze, recalling the transition from twilight into night.
A vessel crowned with deep indigo glaze, recalling the transition from twilight into night.
OFTOIL A42.03
A porcelain cup whose pale blue gradients evoke morning mist settling over water.
A porcelain cup whose pale blue gradients evoke morning mist settling over water.
OFTOIL A42.04
A gathering of forms demonstrating the collection’s subtle variations in color and proportion.
A gathering of forms demonstrating the collection’s subtle variations in color and proportion.
OFTOIL A42.05
A close study of glaze movement, where liquid color settles like moonlight across ceramic terrain.
A close study of glaze movement, where liquid color settles like moonlight across ceramic terrain.
OFTOIL A42.06
A darker interpretation of the series, emphasizing lunar shadow and nocturnal depth.
A darker interpretation of the series, emphasizing lunar shadow and nocturnal depth.
OFTOIL A42.07
A cropped view revealing the painterly transitions that distinguish HIUCHI’s hand-finished surfaces.
A cropped view revealing the painterly transitions that distinguish HIUCHI’s hand-finished surfaces.
Collector’s Assessment
The Mantasy Moon Series demonstrates HIUCHI’s defining philosophy: ceramics not as objects of display alone, but as quiet instruments for creating atmosphere.
The Moon Collection
Archive Note
If the Mantasy Moon Series interprets the moon through color, The Moon Collection recreates it through form.
Each vessel is sculpted to resemble a celestial body weathered by time. Craters, ridges, fractures, and uneven terrain transform the surface into a tactile landscape. Metallic glazes flow across rough porcelain like reflected starlight moving over stone.
The resulting pieces occupy an unusual territory between sculpture and utility. They function as bowls, cups, and vessels while simultaneously appearing as fragments of another world.
Companion Plates
OFTOIL A42.08 (Detail)
The maker’s mark appears within a cratered lunar surface, emphasizing the handcrafted nature of the collection.
The maker’s mark appears within a cratered lunar surface, emphasizing the handcrafted nature of the collection.
OFTOIL A42.08 (Vase Study)
A vessel combining rough topography with reflective glaze, balancing geology and elegance.
A vessel combining rough topography with reflective glaze, balancing geology and elegance.
OFTOIL A42.08 (Tea Service)
Two lunar cups revealing how the collection translates sculptural language into everyday use.
Two lunar cups revealing how the collection translates sculptural language into everyday use.
OFTOIL A42.08 (Collection View)
Multiple forms arranged together, creating the impression of a miniature planetary system.
Multiple forms arranged together, creating the impression of a miniature planetary system.
Collector’s Assessment
Where many contemporary ceramics seek refinement, The Moon Collection embraces imperfection as narrative. The surface becomes evidence of imagined geological history, transforming domestic objects into small celestial artifacts.
Sushi Shop Vase
Archive Note
Created after twenty-four years of artistic development, the Sushi Shop Vase represents one of Grace Tong’s most ambitious ceramic narratives.
Commissioned for the Tokyo restaurant 鮨まつうら (Sushi Matsuura), the vessel was designed to hold octopus prepared by the master chef and served during the dining experience. Rather than simply producing a container, Tong transformed the commission into a story of the sea.
Drawing upon traditional Japanese imagery in which octopuses appear as mysterious ocean creatures, the vessel depicts waves rising from the surface before the arrival of a great sea beast. White porcelain forms the foundation, while sculpted clay creates three-dimensional waves emerging from the lid. Layers of glaze, pigments, and glass produce extraordinary depth, allowing the surface to shimmer like moving water.
The work functions simultaneously as vessel, sculpture, landscape, and narrative object.
Companion Plates
OFTOIL A42.10
The complete vessel, revealing the relationship between container and sculptural lid.
The complete vessel, revealing the relationship between container and sculptural lid.
OFTOIL A42.11
A close examination of the wave formation emerging from the ocean surface.
A close examination of the wave formation emerging from the ocean surface.
OFTOIL A42.12
The central sculptural detail viewed as a miniature seascape.
The central sculptural detail viewed as a miniature seascape.
OFTOIL A42.13
The vessel’s surface interacting with an incense element, extending the work beyond visual experience into ritual.
The vessel’s surface interacting with an incense element, extending the work beyond visual experience into ritual.
Collector’s Assessment
Among HIUCHI’s creations, the Sushi Shop Vase stands as a synthesis of storytelling, craftsmanship, and cultural reference. It demonstrates how a functional object can become an immersive narrative environment while remaining deeply connected to the act of dining.
End of Issue
HIUCHI’s ceramics belong to a growing movement of contemporary makers who reject the separation between art and daily life. Grace Tong’s vessels do not ask to be admired from a distance; they ask to be lived with.
Whether inspired by lunar landscapes, atmospheric light, or the mythology of the sea, each piece transforms the table into a stage for contemplation. Through porcelain, glaze, and patient handwork, HIUCHI offers a simple proposition: beauty need not be reserved for galleries. It can reside in a cup, a bowl, a vase—and in the quiet moments that surround their use.
Collected in OfToil Archive, Issue XLII, as an enduring record of contemporary ceramic design shaped by nature, ritual, and poetic observation.
Images courtesy of Hiuchi Ceramic Studio
