Fill it with soy sauce, and the face slowly appears — the smile of a civilisation, 1,400 years old.
Winner of the 2024 MU:DS Design Competition and created in collaboration with the National Gyeongju Museum, this three-piece sauce bowl set draws from the Face Tile Roof-End (Treasure No. 2010) — a Silla-era artefact whose serene expression has become one of the most recognised faces in Korean cultural history. Korean Minimalism is not always about reduction; sometimes it is about what reveals itself slowly, in use. The impressed face pattern surfaces only when the bowl is filled, making the act of setting a table a quiet ritual of cultural connection. Handcrafted in ceramic with individual glaze variations, no two bowls are identical.
Fill with soy sauce at a Korean table setting and watch the Silla smile emerge — it becomes the conversation at the table. Use for small banchan at a dinner party, where the scale is perfect and the cultural story adds another layer to the meal. Gifted in its presentation box, the set speaks to those who value design that carries history rather than simply referencing it.
Made in Korea in collaboration with the National Gyeongju Museum. A meaningful piece for anyone who values objects with depth and story.