Things you reach for first

Stoneware and porcelain made in Portland, in runs of twenty or less. If you look close enough, you'll find a thumbprint.

Handcrafted ceramic bowl in Sandstone glaze, seen from above on a linen cloth

THE PROCESS

How a bowl happens

Raw stoneware clay from central Oregon quarry

01

Source

We use cone 6 stoneware clay from a family quarry in central Oregon.

Hands shaping clay on a pottery wheel

02

Shape

Thrown on the wheel or slip-cast, depending on the form. Each piece takes 20-40 minutes.

Mixing ceramic glaze in studio

03

Glaze

Our glazes are mixed in-house. The same recipe fires differently every time.

Gas kiln firing at 2300 degrees Fahrenheit

04

Fire

24 hours in a gas kiln at 2,300°F. We open the kiln door two days later.

Started in a garage in 2019

Noru started as a side project. A rented kiln, a borrowed wheel, and a lot of bowls nobody asked for. The name came from a Japanese word we kept mispronouncing — it stuck.

Seven years later, we're still a two-person studio. We make what we'd want to use ourselves, in batches small enough that we can fire everything in a single kiln load.

A good bowl doesn’t change your life. It just makes breakfast a little less forgettable.

Noru studio maker at the pottery wheel in Portland workshop

FROM OUR TABLE

I replaced every piece in my kitchen over six months. Can’t go back.

Maren H.

Portland

Heavier than I expected. In a good way. I use the ramen bowl almost every night.

David O.

Brooklyn

We switched table service six months ago. Regulars asked where we got the cups before we even said anything.

Yuki Tanaka

Café Slow, Seattle