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Ancient Italian CeramicsAuthor: Miyamoto Yuriko
| Original Title | 伊太利亜の古陶 |
|---|---|
| Author | 宮本 百合子 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Female Author |
| Summary | In an opulent Tokyo estate, Viscount Takabata hosts a dinner to honor Kusakabe Taro—a shrewd corporate director with an unexpected passion for antique ceramics—for arranging a marriage to secure his daughter’s future. Amidst veiled gratitude and aristocratic decorum, Kusakabe’s keen eye fixates on a crimson-glazed Italian plate displayed in the study: a purported 16th-century masterpiece by Maestro Giorgio of Gubbio. Though privately suspecting it’s a forgery, he masks his doubts to preserve the Viscount’s pride, even as its allure haunts him. Meanwhile, his wife Miyako navigates her own ambitions, subtly probing the Viscountess about acquiring a coastal villa as tacit compensation for their matchmaking efforts. The evening unfolds with unspoken tensions—between authenticity and artifice, duty and desire—as Kusakabe’s obsession with the plate’s enigmatic beauty clashes with Miyako’s calculated social maneuvering. Beneath polished smiles and antique splendor, fragile alliances and hidden yearnings simmer, promising consequences as delicate—and perilous—as the ceramics they admire. |
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