Where was this made?

[conter]

Hi all,

I'm new here and to the business of green tea drinking. I recently bought a cup from Dragon Tea House on ebay, which arrived yesterday. It is certainly beautiful and a pleasure to touch and hold. Here's a link to the listing which has some good photos:

Moon White * Ru Kiln Celadon Chan Ding Teacup 120ml
http://tinyurl.com/yd2pwzv

I've been trying to find out where exactly it was made as I know the original Ru Kiln isn't still putting out tea ware, on account of it being underground. I got to thinking perhaps there's a new kiln or factory that has rights to the name or something. But as far as I've searched, the internet knows nothing! Can anyone shed some light on this?

The cup I received has the same sticker on the inside as some other ebay sold 'Ru Kiln' celadon ware. I will take a photo of this later and post it here.

I'd appreciate any help on this as I'd love to know more!

Many thanks,
Conter.

[Victoria]

Why not ask Dragon Tea House? Nice cup!

[IPT]

Ru Kiln was an actual kiln which made wares during the Song Dynasty, but the name Ru Kiln now refers to the type of glaze, so anybody can use the name basically. If I remember correctly there are only 80 pieces of Ru Kiln known to exist. The modern glazes are nothing like the original. The original ones were amazing. I got to visit an exhibition in the Taibei Forbidden City Museum, which was the largest collection of Ru Kiln Ware ever assembled. The glaze is known for being white and soft feeling to the touch, and has crackles which are barely visible until the piece is used. The original Ru Kiln pieces were completely coated with glaze and were held up by metal pins in the kiln to keep them from sticking to each other. The newer pieces are not completly coated for ease of manufacture and firing.

To answer your original question, I am not sure where your piece was made. I am familiar with the brand. I see that brand in many shops around China.

[conter]

Thanks Victoria! I have to say I didn't think about asking Dragon Tea House, but now it seems most obvious. Ah well.

IPT, that's very interesting, I had no idea the term Ru Kiln also refers to the type of glaze. The ebay listing makes a lot more sense now, so thanks.
I saw a couple of photographs of original Ru Kiln ware online I think. The description on the ebay listing says only 17% of pieces make it through production! That's pretty crazy, tho I wonder if that's just the original stuff or also Ru Kiln glazes of today.
You mention your familiarity with the brand, do you happen to know if it's a good or trusted brand?
Sorry to read about your broken lid!

[IPT]

Even a small shard of original Ru Kiln ware is priceless.

The company that made your piece is mid range. It is on the high end of the mass produced Ru Kiln manufacturers. Their glaze is thicker and has a nicer feel to it than most of the other makers. It will stain quite nicely.

Thanks for your condolences on my lid. I'm still upset about it.

[Serg]

Nice cup! It was made by Guangzhou Hengfu Tea Industry Co. Ltd. It is their DongDao Ru Ware line. I can't read chinese, but here is their site
http://hf.java114.com/dongdao.jsp

[IPT]

Thank you Serg, that helps. The cup was made in Guangzhou, also called Canton. It's located in Guangdong Province. The characters on the seal are Dong Dao. The "Dong" means east and stands for Guangdong Province. The Character "Dao" is kinda hard to explain. It is the same character in ChaDao. I read the website and it is actually quite interesting. The first link leads to articles about the company and the history of Ru Kiln Ware. The middle link talks about their products and the bottom Link talks about the company and how to care for your piece.

[Tead Off]

Original Ru kiln was located in Henan province and has little to do with modern Ru kilns. Original kiln produced wares mainly for the Imperial palace and by the Ming dynasty, it was already the top prized ware of Song period. Today, original Ru ware pieces sell for fortunes. Occasionally, one comes up at a major auction house and they always fetch major bucks.

[Ironica]

This is a great thread.... I was looking at the same listings by this seller and had similar questions!

Glad you love your cup, I am more interested in eventually getting some myself now.

~Ironica

[conter]

Thanks guys, that's very helpful indeed. I checked out the site, did a few Google translations. They're translating Dao as Road as far as I can tell. So East Road? Other than that, what information I could extract from Google's bodge job was pretty interesting.

I think I did originally believe the cup I was buying was actually made at a Ru Kiln that was still producing wares, but after reading a fair amount before posting here I realised this was certainly not the case. I think the way in which the info was presented on the ebay listing caused my misconception.

I must admit I am quite in love, there's another Ru Kiln cup listing I've got my eye on now (same seller. Set of two, 70ml). The only problem with the cup I have is an interruption to the glaze on the inside that looks and feels like a tiny black splinter sticking right out. Does anyone know if this is a cause for concern? I'm thinking possible heavy metals or something seeping through; anyone familiar with contents of clay in such manufactured wares? Aesthetically speaking tho, I don't mind this at all.

I agree with Ironica! Thanks again for all the info, the more I read the more interested I become!

[TIM]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... 5%26um%3D1

http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/Lo ... =159438969

The real Ru are very rare

[gingkoseto]

I believe most of Dragon Tea House's Ru kiln pieces are Taiwan Dong Dao Ru kiln pieces. Of course strictly speaking, people would call it ru kiln mimic. But Dong Dao is very well know and one of the best modern ru kiln (mimic) brands. There are many other ru kiln products in the market, but if it feels entirely lovely and perfect to you, then it's very likely a Dong Dao brand or Heng Lian brand.

P.S., dong dao = east road, it's a brand name. The cup is not an antique ru kiln, but I think your initial understanding (that it's from a kiln named ru that produces tea ware) is not wrong and it has reputation of high quality.

[conter]

Thanks TIM for those photos! That second one sure is a lot of money.

That's all good to know gingko. I'm not sure what qualifies as perfect here tho, as this is the first Chinese tea cup I've owned. The shape and feel of it to me suggest high quality, but there are a few imperfections which, other than from a safety aspect (the splinter* I mentioned before), I would personally overlook. I suppose it boils down to how 'mass produced' they are, and what one is to expect from both higher and lesser quality brands.

*ETA: now I'm thinking, 'What the hell is this splinter?!' What are others' reservations about spots or splinter type things in glazes? Should I be cautious or should I have already brewed up and drank from this cup?

[conter]

The photos of this listing by the same seller shows a similar looking black dot on several pieces of the set.

http://tinyurl.com/ykxrh8t

[IPT]

Thanks guys, that's very helpful indeed. I checked out the site, did a few Google translations. They're translating Dao as Road as far as I can tell. So East Road? Other than that, what information I could extract from Google's bodge job was pretty interesting.

The character "Dao" like many of Chinese characters can have seveal meanings or interpretations depending on how it is used. In this case I do not believe it means road.