Hello there!
New member here. My tea interest started just about 1 year ago. I have been lucky to live in Vienna, Austria, which has quite a few good tea shops. Have been exploring Chinese and Japanese greens and now starting to get to know the world of oolongs.
So, I have barely any teaware aside from a cheap gaiwan, a tall glass (for grandpa style), a cup, a basic teapot, and a sieve.
I am looking to start upgrading my teaware. I wanted to start with a really nice gaiwan. Something around 90ml, very good quality porcelain, and preferably hand-painted. Budget: up to around $50.
I saw some on ebay at the Dragon Tea House, the ones that are supposedly high-grade hand-painted Qing replicas. I can't post links yet, unfortunately. Anyone have any of these and can say something about their quality?
Any other suggestion welcome. Also, I might even be interested in buying vintage or antique gaiwans but have not been able to find any on the net, except for a pair at Houde for $650, which is too much for me. Any suggestions of places on the net for antique gaiwans?
Many thanks,
Miguel
http://www.theteagallery.com/Medium_Gai ... a-gwnm.htm
Can't recommend this enough. In fact, people are probably tired of hearing about it.
Can't recommend this enough. In fact, people are probably tired of hearing about it.
tea gallery gaiwan
Thanks, Brandon.
I had actually already looked at that one. There's a catch, though. They don't ship to Europe. But actually my parents are going to NYC this weekend. Does anyone know if the Tea Gallery is already open in a new location? And what's the address? If they are I could ask my parents to swing by there.
I had actually already looked at that one. There's a catch, though. They don't ship to Europe. But actually my parents are going to NYC this weekend. Does anyone know if the Tea Gallery is already open in a new location? And what's the address? If they are I could ask my parents to swing by there.
Jul 15th, '09, 19:03
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Herb_Master
I bought a Gaiwan from DTH which is of excellent quality, and performs beautifully, it is however larger (at 200 ml) than your requirement.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Black-Pearl-Chine ... 7C294%3A30
I have bought many items from Gordon at DTH,
and it seems to me that his products are both reasonably priced,
and the more you pay the better quality you get.
His Jing De Zhen Famile Rose 90ml Gaiwans are much more expensive
than mine but still within your price range,
so I would expect you to get a high quality product to treasure.
I am tempted by this one, but saving my pennies for more teapots.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cicada-Hand-Paint ... 7C294%3A30
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Black-Pearl-Chine ... 7C294%3A30
I have bought many items from Gordon at DTH,
and it seems to me that his products are both reasonably priced,
and the more you pay the better quality you get.
His Jing De Zhen Famile Rose 90ml Gaiwans are much more expensive
than mine but still within your price range,
so I would expect you to get a high quality product to treasure.
I am tempted by this one, but saving my pennies for more teapots.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cicada-Hand-Paint ... 7C294%3A30
This is by no means a regular print-on-surface ceramic. This is a 100% hand painted Famille Rose Gaiwan. The colors on the gaiwan are not normal oil paintings, but a white opaque color called as Bo Li Bai (glassy white) blended with complex metal oxides fired at 1350ºC and turned in to different colors. In this case, the colors could not be removed from the Gaiwan. It is a high grade reproduction of a Qing dynasty antique.
Jul 16th, '09, 02:29
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Geekgirl
There are a few nice and reasonably priced ones HERE, and you can see a better set of photos HERE. (shameless self-promotion. 
but not really, because FLT and Shuiwen are a pleasure to do business with.)
These gaiwan are good quality, thin and well-balanced. They are not handpainted, but they ARE very high quality print decals. (Many decals are hand-applied, and thus referred to as "handpainted," so at the lower prices, "handpainted" is not always a guarantee that they are actually painted rather than a decal.) At many times normal size, in a decal you can see the print pattern. You can see that here.
but not really, because FLT and Shuiwen are a pleasure to do business with.) These gaiwan are good quality, thin and well-balanced. They are not handpainted, but they ARE very high quality print decals. (Many decals are hand-applied, and thus referred to as "handpainted," so at the lower prices, "handpainted" is not always a guarantee that they are actually painted rather than a decal.) At many times normal size, in a decal you can see the print pattern. You can see that here.
Jul 16th, '09, 15:05
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Geekgirl
Can't do that until tonight, but I can tell you that it's small. Probably right at about 90ml filled high enough to make a water seal. Possibly a tiny bit over. The plain one that they had in shop when I was there is a tiny bit smaller, but I'm pretty sure the plain one on the website is NOT the same one. Can't vouch for the size of the bamboo one.
You could email or call FLT, they are very nice and responsive.
You could email or call FLT, they are very nice and responsive.
gaiwan
Given that a few people could attest to the quality of DTH products I am going to get one of those hand-painted Qing reproductions, probably the one with the peaches or the one with the chrysantemums. I might throw in the small celadon 60ml gaiwan DTH has for sale as well. It looks very cute, and must be highly practical when brewing more expensive teas.
@Herb_Master -- the cicada one is gorgeous too, I have a thing for cicadas
@yangshuoren -- I was looking at those blue and white hand-painted gaiwans on DTH as well, they are very nice, but a bit too large for me at close to 200 ml
@Herb_Master -- the cicada one is gorgeous too, I have a thing for cicadas
@yangshuoren -- I was looking at those blue and white hand-painted gaiwans on DTH as well, they are very nice, but a bit too large for me at close to 200 ml
http://www.teacuppa.com/Rooster-Gaiwan-Set.asp , and the gaiwan I showed and the painted gaiwans come from the same producer, and I can confirm you that they are high quality thin porcelain with serious handpainting, you can`t go wrong with them, but the rooster painted gaiwan set has an advantage, for the rest you will not find matching cups.
Jul 17th, '09, 18:52
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Herb_Master
They look good, but how many teabowls are there in the set?Oni wrote:http://www.teacuppa.com/Rooster-Gaiwan-Set.asp , and the gaiwan I showed and the painted gaiwans come from the same producer, and I can confirm you that they are high quality thin porcelain with serious handpainting, you can`t go wrong with them, but the rooster painted gaiwan set has an advantage, for the rest you will not find matching cups.
I thought 4 was a "bad" number! But the main pic shows 4.
Best wishes from Cheshire
4 is bad in Chinese too (supposedly because 四 (sì; four) sounds something like 死 (sĬ; to die), though there may be other historical / traditional reasons (see the comments in http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=460 for an interesting discussion about lucky / unlucky words in Chinese languages).Salsero wrote:I think 4 is only bad in Japan.
Anyway, lucky or not, lots of teacups come in sets of 4. I don't think that particular superstition applies to the number of people drinking tea - in fact 3-4 cups seems to be the traditional number of cups used in gongfu cha, even if the total number of people drinking is greater.