One of our New Year’s resolutions is to eat more healthily, including a daily intake of those colorful objects known as fruit. But given how New Year’s resolutions past have turned out, we’re employing some psychological tricks to make sure that happens. With a nod to Mary Poppins and her spoonful-of-sugar technique, we’ve acquired a stunning fruit bowl from potter Marisa Matsuda, filled it, and placed in on our kitchen counter. Now every time we walk into the room, our eye is drawn to the bowl, then the fruit and, well, sometimes we even sample some.

One of our New Year’s resolutions is to eat more healthily, including a daily intake of those colorful objects known as fruit. But given how New Year’s resolutions past have turned out, we’re employing some psychological tricks to make sure that happens. With a nod to Mary Poppins and her spoonful-of-sugar technique, we’ve acquired a stunning fruit bowl from potter Marisa Matsuda, filled it, and placed in on our kitchen counter. Now every time we walk into the room, our eye is drawn to the bowl, then the fruit and, well, sometimes we even sample some.

Hand-thrown in her Lima studio, these graceful bowls—along with the large size, we’re offering smaller rice bowls that are also perfect for serving nuts or olives—are made with a technique known as nerikomi, which means “to mix” in Japanese. In an about-face from the usual pottery process, dyes are added to the clay before it’s shaped on the wheel. This results in a distinctive marbled effect in which various colors striate and swirl together (it also means that no two pieces are exactly alike). Though this centuries-old technique originated in China and was further refined in Japan, Matsuda, who was born in Peru to Japanese parents and studied pottery in Okinawa, puts her own spin on it. “Although I use a Japanese technique, each piece contains a fusion of shapes and colors that are both Japanese and Peruvian,” she says, noting that she’s inspired by the dramatic Peruvian landscape. We’re offering these simple and striking bowls in three color combinations: moss (turquoise/ brown/ cream) which is available only in the small size; charcoal (brown/gray/cream) which is available in both large and small sizes; and mustard (brown/cream) available in both large and small sizes.