MY PERSONAL TEA WARES COLLECTION

Dear loving readers,


When appropriate tea wares are used, not only does it improve the tea quality but it also adds to the charm of the art. As such, it is not surprising to find lots of Chinese people believe that different teas should be brewed by specific different tea wares so as to fully reflect their distinctive characteristics and quality. For example, green tea prefers glass tea ware, porcelain ware for scented tea, while Oolong tea performs best in purple clay tea ware.


Tea wares also called tea sets, mainly comprises of of teapots, tea cups, tea bowls, tea trays and other utensils used for drinking tea nowadays. The unglazed earthenware, commonly used in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces for baking tea today, reminds us of the earliest utensils used in ancient China.


A teapot is a kind of bottle used for infusing teas. Sand pot is considered as the best, because it doesn't absorb the fragrance of the tea but preserve its original tea color. Both tea bowls and cups are used to drink teas. Chinese people began to pay attention to the matching of the color of the tea cups and the tea since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). For instance, they use black cups to drink white tea to better present the color and fragrance. A tea tray is a dish used to hold the tea cups. It originated in the Southern Dynasties (420-589), and became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).


Tea wares in China are made of various materials such as metal, porcelain, pottery, purple clay, lacquer, wood, bamboo and glass. Tea wares made of metals were served to the noble scholar class whereas porcelain and earthenware are commonly used to serve the civilians in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty glazed tea bowls of various colors were used commonly, while porcelain tea wares predominated in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).


Metal tea wares, made of gold, silver, bronze, iron and tin, appeared to be used in the earliest period. They were in existence for a long period of time in Chinese people's lives. However, the tea tastes will not be preserved if tea brewing is in the metal wares. As a result, the metal tea wares were gradually disappeared from the market and substituted by the rising of the porcelain and pottery wares.

Pottery, porcelain, purple clay and lacquer tea wares are always popularly used since their introduction because of their charming appearance and special properties.


Tea wares made of wood and bamboo are usually used for collections and displays.


In the modern times, glass utensils are popularly used because of its transparent texture and dazzling luster. Making tea in a glass cup, you can clearly see the real color of the tea water and the softness of the tea leaves. But, glass tea cups break easily, and they are often too hot to touch.


I also have my personal tea wares. I would like to share with you the photos together with some description of my personal tea ware collection.



Below please find some of my collections


Glass kettle with wooden handle on the marble top and it is mainly used to boil water.










Porcelain Tea set, comprises of tea cup, tea bowl, tea pot and tea jug on the rosewood tea board with mother of Pearl so as to reflect its charm and class.







Trust you enjoy it.


James Oh