The Exotic Teapot

For centuries tea has entered the political arena hence impacting societies, prosperity and traditions around the world.  In 1391 the Ming Dynasty in China ruled that loose teas were to be honoured by the courts instead of tea bricks.  In 1773 a historical event in the soon to be USA occurred, rebuking taxation of tea from the British Parliament. This was instrumental to the American Revolution.  Today, if using a US search engine such as Google.com then typing in tea party over 72,500 links appear, with the first page and many more associated with the current political movement called the tea party.  These are just two nations’ examples.  The history of tea and its benefits indicate what a precious commodity it truly is.   

Tea is now an exotic collector’s item. Pu’erh is also called Pu’er or Bolay is the traditional Chinese tea that has been fermented and lovers of tea have found that when it is stored for years, sometimes even 50 years or more, it improves with age. This storage results in tea acquiring aroma which differs with age. It is said that the tea stored over 50 years is considered to be most valuable and collectors from China and Hong Kong are willing to pay handsome prices for it.

It’s no wonder that the jasmine flower is revered by tea drinkers.  It's bloom is one of the most fragrant of all natural living plants.  Jasmine is used in most perfumes and its extract in many aromatherapy oils.  This midnight blooming flower has been referenced around the world for centuries in a multitude of lyrics and poetry.  Research has shown it calms the nervous system, helps PMS and aids insomnia.  What’s more, legend has it that it is an aphrodisiac.

Jake Jarodsky is an old soul in a young body.  He knew in his teens that he would be an artist.  Jake was torn between becoming a sculptor or a potter.  Because of his intense undergraduate studying, he was hired as a studio aid.  This is where he learned mixing glazes, kiln temperature results, glass blowing and much more.  He chose his higher educational institution based on his admiration of the sage artist and professor Yih-Wen Kuo.  Jake's motto is:

I believe one must do what feels right, regardless of the outcome. The reason I say regardless of the outcome is because it is better to stand up for what you believe in and maybe fail, than not try at all. It is better to be truthful to one’s self, than live with lies and not pursue ones truth.

I expect to see lots of fabulous teapots from Jake over the next few decades.

Artist Ursula Hargens believes flowers communicate newness, animation and flamboyance.  Perhaps growing up in Nova Scotia, where four overtly identifiable seasons occur, exposed Ursula to the glory of annuals and perennials native to her homeland.  Ursula’s teapots, cups and platters dance with an array of colourful blooms, all of which have an oriental undertone. She hopes that the clear, crisp form of the vessels allows the flowers to speak volumes. 

What to name the new furry or feathered addition to the family is a joyous debate.  Often the owner will select the pet’s physical appearance, characteristic traits, native origin or simply his/her favorite gender name.  Some humans put more thought in the process, incorporating one of their own habits into the salutation.  This is the case for husband and wife museum curators and writing team Ron and Janet Benrey.  Featured in their stories are two British shorthair cats Lapsang and Souchong.  Their fur is a smoky gray; these types of teas have a smoky flavour.  Their Shiba Inu, an ancient Japanese canine breed, is named Cha-Cha; cha is referred to as tea in many parts of the world.  And, of course their African Gray Parrot is called Earl.

Margaret Bohls, curator for “Teapots:  Function, Formal, Narrative” has written an article to ceramic artists.  The purpose was to share with them the reasons for creating that magnificent object referred to as the teapot.  She writes:

 The teapot is, arguably, the most visually and culturally loaded pottery form. Trade, fashion, social class, nationalism, and industry, have all contributed to the layers of cultural and historical meaning inherent to this particular cultural artifact. Being at the same time an aesthetic object and a utilitarian object, the teapot also carries all of the potential and all of the contradictions inherent in the field of contemporary ceramics.  

 Margaret addresses the various avenues a ceramic artist can focus on when deciding how to design their teapots.  Besides functional these include:  the aesthetic challenge, the physical relationship to the body, the historical or story-telling perspective and that of decoration.   

After reading the article and with a cup of tea in hand I realized that I was looking at my teapot collection so to gain a greater insight from the artists designing the ones displayed on my shelves.  

Wu Dong Jun is a Chinese ceramic artist that specializes in Yixing clay.  Unlike the traditional purple clay pots, Wu Dong uses this prime earthy matter for contemporary designs.  This teapot has been glazed with stylish brown and black colours.  The legs are exaggerated; the spout and handle sizes reduced.  It is a sleek, stylish, chic teapot; one that would catch anyone’s attention, even the traditional or vintage Yixing teapot artist.   

Lo Chin is a professor in marine biology at a California university.  When his bride Li enrolled in an art class he lovingly toted her heavy clay and stayed with her as an interpreter.  For ten years now they have shared their new found love for clay and their potter’s wheel.  Lo claims Li is a ceramic artist, he a potter.  He uses rutile-iron glazes that when fired create magnificent crystals.  She creates objects and vessels with letters, scoring, textures and patterns.

York Chang is an artist, exhibitor, photographer and curator.  This exhibit, “The Future Belongs to the Masses II” is from 2005.  “I like the sense of secret things hidden just under the surface waiting to be excavated, that throwaway image that was discarded once as flawed but now I've found.”  York believes that true meaning is real when all the elements of our senses are involved. 
These 40-year old teapots were found in an old Chinese restaurant with some tea leaves still remaining.  Because of the leaky roof of the restaurant, rainwater would seep through and frequently hit the pots.  The exhibit was designed to include a series of water pumps hung above the teapots to emulate the rain; the sounds were enhanced with a 16 channel recording of rain. 
Additionally, because the pots were aligned as if soldiers, the painting on the wall is that of Chinese soldiers.

What healthy benefits are lost when tea is iced?  Research has been conducted.  Scientists at the University of Hong Kong proved that only 20% of the admirable antioxidants in tea dissipate when cooled to 98 Celsius.  With warm weather on the arisen this is good news.  Americans prefer iced tea to hot, perhaps due to the higher temperatures in North America.  Additionally, lemon is normally added to their iced tea.  Lemon in fact has shown to delay the reduction of antioxidants.   However, do not add the sugar dosage commonly used by westerners; this is where the calories add up.

Taking a tea tour in China is a must for visitors.  There are locales in China where visitors can learn to pluck tea.   And, there are tea plantations that are open to Westerners where tea workers can be observed plucking the leaves according to strict standards.  Plucking entails the correct identification of dormancy of the shoots within the enclosure of two bud scales.

We just received the first batch of 2010 Spring teas and in particular our full range of flowering teas. It's the culmination of a few hard weeks of traveling through India and China to visit our tea masters and teaware producer. Despite an inevitable shortage of premium tea this year, we think we've managed to secure some very high quality tea. We hope our customers enjoy tasting our fresh 2010 spring tea as much as we have. You can read more about our trip here.

Robert Lawarre grew up working in the family’s aerospace company.  This is where he learned to hand build parts like a machinist and fabricator.  When learning ceramics, he combined his previous skills to pottery.  Because of his appreciation for family traditions he chose to apply these aforementioned theories to Yixing teapots, bowls and cups.  His tea ware is a patchwork of surfaces made from discarded car belts to taillight lenses, which are then washed with multiple glazes.   

After retiring Magie Smith-Fleisher followed her passions which are: ceramics and maintaining her koi pond.  She now with clay, hand builds koi teapots and other pieces.  By simultaneously watching the koi with her eyes and building the fish with her hands she is able to realistically capture their gentle movements.  Magie selects glazes of orange, gold, white and black of the fish then strategically adds iridescent tints to indicate the sun glistening on their scales and reflecting in the water.   

Joe Zeller has focused his 40 year artistic career making porcelain teapots that are challenging in nature.  His teaching career has been of the same.  Even though his professorship is in one of the smaller populated states of the USA his astute abilities are the reasons he is consistently invited to teach abroad.  For years, he along with North American, European and Chinese students, gather to study in the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen. There, he teaches contemporary art while the Chinese experts teach traditional ceramic art.  Zeller says the Chinese find his work odd because his pieces are only allusions to teapots, as shown here.

The ringing of the New Year in China began February 14^th.  It is the tiger’s year.  The tiger zodiac is associated with adventurous, suspicious, sensitive, emotional and risk taking.   Lynn Chase designs jungle-type dinnerware and vessels that features the tiger in vivid colours with multi-dimensional patterns.  What makes this teapot celebratory is that she puts the tiger atop the other jungle plants and birds in which the cat resides.

This teapot is just one of Bruce Noske’s astoundingly pierced designs which reflect the Victorian days of chintzes and Wedgewood but with a minimalist Oriental twist.  His pots are meticulously developed, all with similar shoulder, base, lid, unique handle and spout.  Because he has always enjoyed doodling, or sketching, patterns of leaves and animals, Bruce applies these to teapots via hand painted brushwork and slip carved decorations.

Ceramic artist Richard Notkin has been featured once before.  However, with Valentine’s Day nearing, his Heart Teapot series warrants recognition.  Notkin thinks: “The seeds of all conflict are to be found in each human heart.” As many artists, Notkin thinks the teapot is one of the most complex because the body, spout, lid, knob and handle must mesh; just as complicated as love can be.  And, because Notkin loves Yixing teapots, his heart series show that he has mastered the scale and detail demanded of such vessels. 

This tea ware can be found at the Zhu Ye Qing Tea Museum and Garden in Emei City in the Sichuan Province of China.  The pot is actually quite nice; the other parts of the set are what make it somewhat peculiar.  Actually the base is a spoon holder: the spoon used to scoop tea leaves into the pot.  The ornate scooper, curvaceous teapot handle and etching on the thick base do compose an interesting tea set.