Antique/Vintage Tea and Tea Ware

[David R.]

This is a teapot I inherited form my grandmother. No one knows how she put her hands on this, as she never left France, neither the surroundings of her home... My mother got it appraised, and she was told it was pretty old, at least a century or more likely a couple. If someone has anything to tell me about this, I would be grateful. Looks like very soft zisha inside. I use it sometimes for lazy brew of young puerh. It holds roughly 35cl.

[David R.]

Stamp. Sorry if it's upside down...

[IPT]

Great Teapot. It is hard to tell from your photos. Could you send a couple of close-up photos of it, as well as a photo of the inside of the lid? That would help.

[David R.]

Great Teapot. It is hard to tell from your photos. Could you send a couple of close-up photos of it, as well as a photo of the inside of the lid? That would help.

I uploaded higher res photos on my photobucket. See here. There is also another porcelain teapot I was going to ask about later. Same source.

There are no markings inside of the lid.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this.

[David R.]

Me again

I just bought these 3 "bottles" in antique market. I was told they were tea containers. If people have some info, I would be grateful. I was thinking about filling them with young, fresh roasted yancha.

Dimensions : 6x4x2 (inches)

[Drax]

Hrm... 堂製 would be tang zhi... could mean temple-made. Not sure about the first two characters, though.

In any case, they're beautiful containers. Is the opening wide enough to easily get tea into/out?

[debunix]

Looks like you might need a funnel to get the tea in, but with some time, patience, and gentle handling even a very wiry yancha should be able to go IN. OUT, on the other hand, might be a bigger problem, unless they're a lot bigger than they look. I think a nice rolled & roasted TGY would be lovely in those....

[David R.]

Inner opening is 1,1 inches. It is not a lot, but I managed to get in and out 25g of yancha without any breakage. With patience still. It must contain about 75g of yancha, but I wouldn't fill it to the top if I won't to get it out.

I was thinking about using them for loose leaf old puerh, shu or sheng.

Thanks for the responses.

[gingkoseto]

Me again

I just bought these 3 "bottles" in antique market. I was told they were tea containers. If people have some info, I would be grateful. I was thinking about filling them with young, fresh roasted yancha.

Dimensions : 6x4x2 (inches)

I love the teapot. I can't tell its age but it has a good taste and style of the old time porcelain! The "bottles" are very nice too. Although I can't see the details, since they have similar pattern but not uniform strokes, it looks like they are hand painted and very well made! I too think TGY might be easier to get in and out.

[IPT]

The characters on the bottom of the tea containers say: 华荣堂制 (Huá róng táng zhì), which means made by Hua Rong Tang (company). They were made more for decoration than for use, but they would be fine for storing tea.

The porcelain teapot does look like an older piece, but it is really hard to say how old from just photos.

[David R.]

Thanks very much IPT and gingko. The porcelain pot is a bit large to be used (~500ml) and is dripping a lot, but it is beautiful indeed.

[MarshalN]

This is a teapot I inherited form my grandmother. No one knows how she put her hands on this, as she never left France, neither the surroundings of her home... My mother got it appraised, and she was told it was pretty old, at least a century or more likely a couple. If someone has anything to tell me about this, I would be grateful. Looks like very soft zisha inside. I use it sometimes for lazy brew of young puerh. It holds roughly 35cl.

This does look old. I can't quite say how old, but it looks like 18th century or earlier. The spout, especially, is of an older style.

The name of the artist here is Shao Tingyu, who lived in the late 16th century. However, it is quite common for later artisans to use the names of earlier makers, so the name alone means almost nothing.

A shot or a few of the interior will be nice, if you could manage it.

[Tead Off]

This is a teapot I inherited form my grandmother. No one knows how she put her hands on this, as she never left France, neither the surroundings of her home... My mother got it appraised, and she was told it was pretty old, at least a century or more likely a couple. If someone has anything to tell me about this, I would be grateful. Looks like very soft zisha inside. I use it sometimes for lazy brew of young puerh. It holds roughly 35cl.

This does look old. I can't quite say how old, but it looks like 18th century or earlier. The spout, especially, is of an older style.

The name of the artist here is Shao Tingyu, who lived in the late 16th century. However, it is quite common for later artisans to use the names of earlier makers, so the name alone means almost nothing.

A shot or a few of the interior will be nice, if you could manage it.

[Tead Off]

Having problems posting. Sorry.

I have seen another pot shaped liked this using a zisha body and painted exterior here in BKK at auction. Listed as late 19th century. The one I saw was painted quite differently using a lot of gold. I would be very surprised if it was much older than this as the motifs don't strike me as being earlier. Lovely teapot.

[David R.]

Thank you all so much for your expertise. My family will be pleased to know more about these items.