Show Off Your Pots and Cups, Part II

[Salsero]

Good idea. Just what we need in this thread: more pix.

[tenuki]

Good idea. Just what we need in this thread: more pix.

exactly, pic to chat ratio is getting a bit short. Stop posting comments with no pictures!!

(this is humor, in case you didn't know)

[chamekke]

exactly, pic to chat ratio is getting a bit short. Stop posting comments with no pictures!!

(this is humor, in case you didn't know)

And here's some more. A tanuki chawan for Tenuki!



This is Meiji, about 120 years old. It's on the small side; possibly intended for nodate ("portable" size for outdoors-style tea ceremony). Then again, although it was sold as a chawan, in reality it may be a simple cup for sencha! (I saw a similar bowl for sale about a year after I bought this one. There was enough variation in the details of the design to make it obvious each was handpainted, but enough similarity to show that they were done as part of a series ... which supports the theory that this is actually a tea "cup" and not a tea "bowl".)

The reverse side has some kanji on it - difficult to read, but even I can make out the word "tanuki" (狸). A Japanese friend thinks it says something about being pushed through the door of the New Year and being made to be one year older - a time of transformation, just as the tanuki is an animal of transformation (and mischief!).

Incidentally, I wasn't actually on the lookout for old e-Shino chawan-s with droll pictures on them, but this one hooked me

[tenuki]

I love it, what a great bowl!

[ABx]

As for my $1 yixing, Mary suggested last night that I may want to test it for lead before drinking from it, since I don't know its provenance So I may just do that. Right now, it's simply being "decorative" on a living room table,

I really wouldn't worry about lead in unglazed clay. I'm not aware of any lead in clay; I wouldn't think it would work. It would mainly be glazed ceramics that you'd want to worry about. There are a lot of dangerous glazes used - even in stuff that gets approved as being food safe (anything with a "frost" or metallic is generally bad, and heat can accelerate the leeching, and really vibrant colors are sometimes achieved with undesirables).

Yours just looks slip casted. It may or may not be real or quality yixing clay, but doubt it would poison you. Pour boiling water in and over it; it should smell like hot rocks, not mud.

[GalileosDaughter]

My "good" china--Kutani Crane




Photo is from Replacements because I take lousy pictures.

[Victoria]

Beautiful!

[devites]

New kyusu. Not sure why the color is so bland in the picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23944331@N04/2472087651/

[Salsero]

Nice teaware, devites and GalileosDaughter. Thanks for sharing.

[GalileosDaughter]

Thanks Vic and Salsero! Just wanted to clarify--that's not my everyday china. I only use the good stuff at night when I can relax and fully contemplate the tea.

During the day I usually use my old china that I got at Costco many many years ago.

[chamekke]

My "good" china--Kutani Crane




Photo is from Replacements because I take lousy pictures.

Lovely design - very elegant. Thanks for sharing that!

Don't you love "special occasion" china? I do, too

[chamekke]

New kyusu. Not sure why the color is so bland in the picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23944331@N04/2472087651/

Nice photo, devites!

May I ask where you got your kyusu? I have one that looks almost exactly like yours, bought second-hand ('cause NO shops in my town sell new kyusu!). It's pearl-grey, cute as a button, and very pleasing to brew with. The problem is, I broke my lid the other day when taking it back home from work

[Salsero]

Don't you love "special occasion" china?

Oy, females!

[chamekke]

Don't you love "special occasion" china?

Oy, females!

{bats eyelashes}

[Salsero]

{bats eyelashes}

Oooooooo, females, mmmm! Those West Coast ladies get me every time. it must be that extra "X" chromosome.