INCENSE STAND

We make this incense stand in our Tokyo studio using our approach to pate de verre — crushed glass mixed with color powder and pigment, fired in a kiln, then cut and ground by hand into its geometric shape. Each stand has a unique pattern of internal bubbles — no two pieces look the same. The surface is finished with a matte texture that diffuses light softly. Each time one changes the viewing angle, the bubbles and the boundaries between faceted surfaces shift, creating depth within the transparency.

When a stick of incense is inserted, a single vertical line is added to the form, and rhythm appears within the stillness. Light the flame, extinguish it, and watch the smoke rise. The act of burning incense has deep roots in Japan. Kodo (香道, literally "the way of fragrance") is a formal practice over a thousand years old, in which participants train their sense of smell by "listening" to different incense woods — it is considered one of Japan's three classical arts of refinement, alongside tea ceremony and flower arrangement. Beyond kodo, burning incense is also an everyday act in Japan, from offering incense at a family altar to simply scenting a room. This glass stand brings that tradition into a contemporary form.

Place the stand by a window, on a desk, or at the bedside — wherever one wishes to mark a moment of pause. Handcrafted in our Tokyo studio, each stand is one of a kind.