These glasses were made at Glass Studio Seiten, on the island of Okinawa.

Glass of the type made at Seiten by Kiyoharu Matsuda and his team, is known as saisei glass. Saisei literally means ‘reborn’, and in glass it refers to a process to melt and recreate empty drinks bottles into beautiful forms.

Blended for texture and colour, the glass is heated from fragments, before being blown and swirled into new shapes.

These are what the makers refer to as ‘simple’ glasses, with basic elements of the expressions typical in the glass blowing that they practice. The colour, gradation, and air bubbles contained in each piece is unique and represents a moment in craft.

Saisei glass has deep connection to Okinawa’s post war history, as craftspeople used the materials they could find to create a new lineage in glass. The results today refract sunlight, and seem somehow to encapsulate it within their material.

Kiyoharu Matsuda as a peripatetic artisan in glass on Okinawa, who has now established his home at Seitan, is a representative of this reborn tradition. His items are a pleasure to use.

Size: Width 7.8cm x Height 7cm approx.

Capacity: 130ml

Package weight: 250g

Simple Glass by Seiten