Bringing Art to the Table — Kantan Limited Company Wins Platinum for “Spring Inspiration” Ceramic Chopstick Rest Set

Taiwan-based lifestyle aesthetics brand Kantan Limited Company, led by Chiou Hui Ting, has been awarded the Platinum Prize in the Ceramics category at the Future Art & Design Award UK 2025 Autumn Season for its project “Lin Chih-Chu – Spring Inspiration Ceramic Chopstick Rest Gift Set.”

Praised by the jury as "A beautifully crafted and functional piece that elevates everyday dining into an artful living experience."

The winning piece transforms a celebrated Taiwanese painting into an object of everyday beauty — blending art, design, and life.

Founded in Taiwan, Kantan Co., Ltd. is dedicated to infusing art into daily living. Guided by the belief that “beauty lies in simplicity,” the brand name “Kantan” derives from the Japanese word かんたん (kantan), meaning “simple.” It reflects Kantan’s philosophy of purity, elegance, and refined simplicity — celebrating a way of life where art and aesthetics naturally intertwine.

Q: What initially inspired this project? Was there a particular idea, moment, or question that sparked its creation?

Kantan: We’ve long admired Taiwan’s artistic heritage and wanted to bring that beauty off the museum wall and onto the table — literally. That idea led us to Spring Inspiration by Lin Chih-Chu, known as the “Father of Taiwan’s Eastern Gouache Painting.”

In this piece, Lin paints a peaceful spring scene: a camphor tree in front of a family home, sunlight filtering through the leaves, and tiny Japanese white-eyes flitting among the branches. With his delicate, layered brushwork, he captures the gentle yet lively spirit of spring.

To turn that feeling into something people could hold and use, we spent a year collaborating with Arita kilns in Japan, home to a 400-year porcelain tradition (Arita-yaki). Together, we blended Japan’s masterful craftsmanship with the creative spirit of Taiwanese art.

The result isn’t just a set of ceramic chopstick rests — it’s a small piece of art that can live in your daily routine. Each piece can also be mounted and framed as a three-dimensional artwork, transforming from tableware to display piece. We hope this design lets art truly come to the table and invites people to enjoy the quiet beauty of culture in both dining and daily life.

Q: What was the most exciting or most challenging aspect of bringing this work to life?

Kantan: Turning Lin Chih-Chu’s Spring Inspiration into a ceramic chopstick rest was both a creative challenge and a thrilling journey. The project pushed us to bridge art, craft, and daily life, bringing a masterpiece off the canvas and onto the table.

Our challenges centered on three key areas: faithfully translating the painting, achieving exacting craftsmanship, and creating multifunctional usability.

1. Faithfully Translating the Painting - Spring Inspiration is known for its soft tonal layers and restrained brushwork. Reproducing that delicacy in porcelain was incredibly demanding. During firing, we had to preserve the gentle gradation of color and the expressive charm of the Japanese white-eye.

From studying the painting’s hues and composition to precise 3D modeling, glaze testing, and fine adjustments to the curvature of each rest, every step was about ensuring the “language of the painting” could still be felt on this small, sculptural surface.

2. Achieving Exacting Craftsmanship - Each rest is made from Arita kaolin (Saga Prefecture), valued for its fine white texture and stable firing quality. Using gosu underglaze painting beneath a clear glaze, we created a soft, luminous surface that captures both the layered tones of the bird and the warmth of spring.

We shaped the bird form through 3D modeling and hand-sculpting, giving it a gently upturned tail and balanced curve — details that ensure beauty meets function, preventing rolling or slipping whether used for chopsticks or paintbrushes.

3. Creating Multifunctional Usability - We wanted this piece to move beyond being just tableware. Each rest includes magnetized backing, and the Spring Inspiration art card and transparent magnetic acrylic frame allow the set to be mounted as a three-dimensional artwork. Whether displayed singly or as a collection, the rests shift effortlessly from dining tools to decorative art — embodying our belief that art can live in everyday life.

Q: How was your experience taking part in the Future Art & Design Award UK?

Kantan: Participating in the Future Art & Design Award UK marks an important milestone in Kantan’s brand development. It offered a rare opportunity to step beyond Taiwan and view our work through an international lens, seeing how Taiwanese cultural and creative design can resonate within the global design community.

The experience reminded us why we do what we do. When we first created the Lin Chih-Chu – Spring Inspiration Ceramic Chopstick Rest Gift Set, our goal was simple yet ambitious: to bring art into daily life. Seeing this vision recognized on an international stage affirmed that when design is rooted in culture and crafted with care, it can transcend boundaries and connect with people everywhere.

Receiving the award was a truly uplifting moment. It validated our ongoing commitment to detail, quality, and storytelling through design, and encouraged us to keep exploring new ways of blending local heritage with contemporary craftsmanship.

We’re sincerely grateful to the Future Art & Design Award UK for this honor and the meaningful dialogue it has opened between Taiwanese art and global design perspectives. Most of all, we hope that our Spring Inspiration collection continues to share a sense of renewal, warmth, and artistry — bringing a touch of “Spring” to tables around the world.

• Website：https://kantan.com.tw

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kantan.tw/

• Kantan Co., Ltd. is a Taiwan-based lifestyle aesthetics brand devoted to bringing art into everyday living. Guided by the belief that beauty can be found in simplicity, Kantan creates a wide range of artistic and design products that transform ordinary moments into meaningful, stylish experiences.

  The brand name “Kantan” derives from the Japanese word かんたん (kantan), meaning “simple.” It embodies the brand’s philosophy of embracing purity, elegance, and refined simplicity — celebrating a way of life where art and aesthetics naturally intertwine.