New Chinese teaware
I just wanted to share some of my pottery purchases from my recent trip to Yunnan and Guizhou.
Jianshui teapot from Yunnan province. This is one of the famous unglazed teaware from China. It’s dark colour is produced from adding 5 different clay colours for the body, and then the design is inlaid with variously coloured clays (not painted). This pot holds approximately 255 ml of liquor. Has a beautiful ball strainer built in and a stunning design. It pours amazingly with a hole in the snugly fitting lid that allows one to stop and control the the pour. It is definitely one of my most favourite teapots.
In Duyun (Guizhou) we all received some prickly pear tea and this amazing tea cup made of local Ya Zhou Tao clay. The Bouyei people here were so hospitable and friendly.
I was presented this locally made gift (below) from Jiaoyao village on our departure. I was told the significance of receiving a rice bowl and a tea cup was a blessing that wishes for the recipient to never go hungry or go thirsty! What a special gift and these items will remain a cherished part of my collection for my lifetime.
Rice bowl and tea cup
A gift from Jiaoyao village, Leishan, Guizhou, China.
As I already own many gaiwans, what I really wanted were tea cups. So I ended up checking out a lot of pottery and purchased these four beautiful blue and white porcelain pieces below. The other two (top right and bottom) were purchased from local potters at ChaMa ancient city (near Pu’er city).
I wished to buy more, but I only had so much room in my suitcase, and it was also getting full of tea. In the end I had to leave some of my clothes behind to make room. Clothes are replaceable, tea and pottery directly from China are not.
