The unofficial/official Korean Teaware Topic

[hopeofdawn]

After quite a bit of procrastinating, I finally managed to take some pics of my latest acquisition, and I thought I'd share. Both are by Kim Eung Chul, courtesy of Tead Off--stoneware with a fascinating pink feldspar ash glaze that has a ton of different colors in it. These are my first pieces by this particular artist, and so far I've really been enjoying them.

120 ml teapot:




And teaboat:

[debunix]

Ooh, beautiful! I was just enjoying my shino teapot from Seong Il recently, and marveling anew at the delicate shades of color and fine network of crackles that beautifully stained like yours, almost from the first brewing. My two near-twin pots are both porcelain.

So I'm curious: were those crackles visible before you brewed in it? If not, did it take many sessions for the lovely staining to highlight them like this?

[hopeofdawn]

Ooh, beautiful! I was just enjoying my shino teapot from Seong Il recently, and marveling anew at the delicate shades of color and fine network of crackles that beautifully stained like yours, almost from the first brewing. My two near-twin pots are both porcelain.

So I'm curious: were those crackles visible before you brewed in it? If not, did it take many sessions for the lovely staining to highlight them like this?

Actually, these pieces were a bit unusual in that they already had very visible crackling when they arrived. Most of my pieces have been like yours, with the crackles developing over time. With these, it's entirely possible that they've gotten a bit darker as I've brewed tea in them, but the crackles were very prominent from the very first day--especially the teapot! The tea boat is a bit more subtle. But I do enjoy how the crackling sets off the subtle color shifts on these pieces, that's for sure.

[AdamMY]

Great piece, I love the simple but complex glaze effect going on. I have a set with a similar style of glazing (but not quite the same) from Park Jong Il, it is one of my favorite sets, and this one got the stains in the cracks so incredibly quickly as well.

Ugh, I feel my TAD flaring up.

[.m.]

Very, very nice. Is the inside glazed too?

[Chip]

bootiful!

[hopeofdawn]

Very, very nice. Is the inside glazed too?

Thanks! The interior of the teapot is glazed the same as the outside--with some very nice aqua blues along the bottom, while the inside of the lid is unglazed. Which I actually really like, since it gives me a peek at the speckled underlying clay.

[hopeofdawn]

So thanks to Teachat, my collection of Korean teaware has steadily grown over the last few years. Thought I'd share a 'family shot', as it were ...





Starting from the cups in front (which I call moon cups), the artists are: Hong Seong-Il, Kim Eung Chul (the teapot and tea boat on the top left and top, respectively. Another Hong Seong-Il pot is on top of the tea boat), Yi Yong Cheol (the two servers and teapot on the right and top right), and an unknown artist for the two buncheong cups in the middle. They were an Ebay find, and I have a signed box for them, but sadly have not been able to find someone to translate.

Why yes, I do have TAD, why do you ask?

[debunix]

What a lovely family portrait!

[handolcha]

Interesting topic!!
It was always pity that not many people know about Korean tea culture.

It is true that Korean tea culture is not as famous or diverse as Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese tea culture. Because of historical issues(different interpretation of Confucianism, political reasons, Korean wars, and etc) Korean tea culture faded away from Korea. However, even though teas from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, became less enjoyable from Koreans, many herbal teas were developed instead. I am not an expert about teas, but in my opinion, those reasons built up unique Korean tea culture.

As many lovely Korean teawares posted on this board, individual serving sets or travel sets became famous, because they are more available to enjoy both teas and herbal teas. And for traditional tea sets, I see that cups for Korean tea sets are a lot bigger than other Asian countries.

It was interesting that "Chip" said

This set is great for many types of tea, but I tend to brew mostly Korean greens (pictured) and Japanese greens.

.
That's totally what I am doing for my teas. It will be still good to brew Chinese or Taiwanese teas with Korean tea sets, but I am using Korean tea sets only for Korean and Japanese teas. I heard Chinese and Taiwanese tea cultures are more about the fragrant, Korean and Japanese tea cultures tend to focus on their tastes and appearances. These preferences of teas are really shown on their tea wares, so I prefer using Korean tea wares for Korean and Japanese teas.

Here's one of my collections from last trip to Korea. The artist used the inlaid technique, called "Sang Gam".





I have tons of things that I want to show and discuss, but maybe next time.

Visit my blog for more information.
http://handolcha.blogspot.com/

[debunix]

I'm hoping there will be a pot of this traditional pottery style in the upcoming Korean Art Exhibit at the LA County Art Museum. I was very disappointed on my first visit there to see only a few small cases of Korean ceramics on exhibit, when I learned that they have a vast collection.

[blairswhitaker]

This may be an odd choice for Korean tea ware, here is a new piece I got today at the toji temple flea market. It's intended to be a tea cup but I have repurposed it as a cha-ire.
I really don't know anything about it, but the seller said it was "old", although they always do don't they. I basically wanted it because I felt like it would work with this tabacobon.

[Poseidon]

And teaboat:

Wow... Where can I get one of those tea boats!

[Hannah]

Wow... Where can I get one of those tea boats!

+1!!!! I'd love a tea boat like that

[Tead Off]

This tea boat is by Kim Eung Chul, one of the Korean potters on my TeaMerchandiser listing. Unfortunately, all have been sold out. I'm working on trying to get some more made.