NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

[debunix]

Beautiful--delicate painting, graceful shape, and always intriguing crackly glaze.

[stevorama]

Beautiful--delicate painting, graceful shape, and always intriguing crackly glaze.

Yes, lovely! Surprise find. Perfect for 25-50g of loose tea. I keep seeing the "flowers in cart" motif on Japanese vases and jars.

[stevorama]

Recently acquired these. Anyone familiar with the year(s) they were made?

[Bok]

Looks quite new to me. Vintage at the most. If they where older you would probably see more wear, especially at the golden rim.

[jayinhk]

Those might even be from the last ten years or so. I can buy almost identical cups from my porcelain guy today! For $2 a cup or so.

[stevorama]

Yep, they seem essentially unused. Not a scratch. Although the bottoms show slight marks, maybe from sitting on a shelf. All told (with shipping) they cost $25 for a set of 4. Reasonable I think, especially since I enjoy them. Are the characters on the bottom typical for modern stuff?

[Bok]

Yep, they seem essentially unused. Not a scratch. Although the bottoms show slight marks, maybe from sitting on a shelf. All told (with shipping) they cost $25 for a set of 4. Reasonable I think, especially since I enjoy them. Are the characters on the bottom typical for modern stuff?

I might be wrong, but I think the characters are just imitating older seals.

[stevorama]

I might be wrong, but I think the characters are just imitating older seals.

I had that thought as well.

[Griff]

Recently acquired these. Anyone familiar with the year(s) they were made?

I have a similar pair of cups, though they aren't trimmed in gold. They're also blue and white only.



I've heard these referred to as rice cups. I'm not sure if it's because they're actually meant for rice, or if the moniker is in reference to the shape of the translucent spots on the cups. Either way, if you do a Google image search for "Chinese rice cups" you'll see a lot of similar cups.

Mine are probably 30-40 years old. I've never considered them to be particularly valuable. Though they certainly are fun! Seeing sunlight shine through those translucent spots with the hue of the tea coming through is a beautiful site.

[stevorama]

Recently acquired these. Anyone familiar with the year(s) they were made?

I have a similar pair of cups, though they aren't trimmed in gold. They're also blue and white only.

I've heard these referred to as rice cups. I'm not sure if it's because they're actually meant for rice, or if the moniker is in reference to the shape of the translucent spots on the cups. Either way, if you do a Google image search for "Chinese rice cups" you'll see a lot of similar cups.

Mine are probably 30-40 years old. I've never considered them to be particularly valuable. Though they certainly are fun! Seeing sunlight shine through those translucent spots with the hue of the tea coming through is a beautiful site.

Lovely cup of tea there.

Yes, I think they're named for the translucent parts. I have a set of those with a dragon (rather than a flower) on the inside. The unadorned version of the cups I posted above. Great for everyday use!

[Bok]

I've heard these referred to as rice cups. I'm not sure if it's because they're actually meant for rice, or if the moniker is in reference to the shape of the translucent spots on the cups. Either way, if you do a Google image search for "Chinese rice cups" you'll see a lot of similar cups.

Yes, those are any Chinatowns standard stock.
More on the process of how to do this rice grain style: http://gotheborg.com/glossary/ricegrain.shtml

[stevorama]

Weekend morning tea.

[Bok]

Back home in Europe, without my teaware, I dug into the heirloom for my tea set up: Antique Meissen porcelain cups (among the first in Europe to discover how porcelain is made), antique farmers’ clay pitchers for on an equally old low stool which serves as table, commoners led plate (of course not safe to use for eating from anymore). Teapot is the only new thing, a gift from Taiwanese friends. I do not like this kind of fancy handle pots, but it was the only one at hand…

One pitcher gave off a not so nice smell when hot water was in it, so I only used it as water disposal. Kind of hot stone-ish smell, not pleasant and surely very bad for decanting tea.

Otherwise nice enough to look at, not to mention that those old cups are very nice to drink from!
Thanks to the ancestors

[ethan]

Those porcelain cups look pretty. I like drinking out of cups like that.

[jayinhk]

On the rice grain cups...they are quite collectible now. Quite a market for vintage ones in China and people are grabbing up old stock. They're still made today, but the craftsmanship is nothing like it used to be.

You can check out seals and guesstimate age based on the info here:

http://www.gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturychina.shtml

I snagged an older one a few months ago; so much nicer than the new ones. I used to enjoy looking at them when I was a kid as they were cheap and commonly used at Chinese restaurants here in HK. I thought they were very pretty, even when I was 10 or 11. Thinking back just reminded me of the evening my dad ordering drunken shrimp for the first time. I remember how much we loved 'em!

I'm actually using a rice grain teapot to drink liu an with aglaia odorata since I have a cold. This particular tea is exceptionally nice and has a really pleasant taste.