The Porcelain Thread

[wave_code]

thanks @Bok, I always thought these style cups seemed way too perfectly sencha sized/shaped to not be Japanese. And the design always made me think it would seem very much like a Japanese response or distillation/take away of the classic Fujian lotus cups and the smaller seaweed pattern cups.

[LeoFox]

Picked up a blue line cup from eot. Much thinner than expected

[Bok]

Picked up a blue line cup from eot. Much thinner than expected

Nice and simple!

[teatray]

I've whined a fair amount about my mispurchases on my quest for a small glazed pot, so maybe I should post about the good ones. This delicate 140ml Jingdezhen Qinghua pot arrived last week from Mud & Leaves. Never ordered before, so wasn't exactly sure what I was getting. Unpacking experience was a bit odd, not unlike a cheap Ali Express purchase (half a dozen super-tight layers of smelly wraps and foams, smelly storage box). For a moment, I thought I might find some $5 worth of pot inside, with a vague resemblance to the shop pictures. But out came this cute little pot. The store pictures (not to mention my phone snaps below) don't really do it justice, it's beautiful. The paintings facing the (right-handed) pourer and the guest seem thoughtfully balanced. The walls are pretty thin (easily visible Qinghua from the inside, fully opaque from the outside). The pour is a pleasant, quiet stream. It takes a few days of practice to reliably start off without losing a drop, but it's not a problem after you get a feel for the pot. (Stopping is another matter: I use solo cup/gong dao bei, or pour two cups without lifting when using this pot. I find it difficult to alternate cups in the Japanese style without dripping.). Most importantly, it doesn't impart any flavors and produces wonderful brews. A new favorite for my oolong exploration.

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[debunix]

That is a lovely pot. And being glazed porcelain, no worries about funky smells from wrapping or transit transmitting to your tea!

[GaoShan]

I've whined a fair amount about my mispurchases on my quest for a small glazed pot, so maybe I should post about the good ones. This delicate 140ml Jingdezhen Qinghua pot arrived last week from Mud & Leaves. Never ordered before, so wasn't exactly sure what I was getting. Unpacking experience was a bit odd, not unlike a cheap Ali Express purchase (half a dozen super-tight layers of smelly wraps and foams, smelly storage box). For a moment, I thought I might find some $5 worth of pot inside, with a vague resemblance to the shop pictures. But out came this cute little pot. The store pictures (not to mention my phone snaps below) don't really do it justice, it's beautiful. The paintings facing the (right-handed) pourer and the guest seem thoughtfully balanced. The walls are pretty thin (easily visible Qinghua from the inside, fully opaque from the outside). The pour is a pleasant, quiet stream. It takes a few days of practice to reliably start off without losing a drop, but it's not a problem after you get a feel for the pot. (Stopping is another matter: I use solo cup/gong dao bei, or pour two cups without lifting when using this pot. I find it difficult to alternate cups in the Japanese style without dripping.). Most importantly, it doesn't impart any flavors and produces wonderful brews. A new favorite for my oolong exploration.

That's a nice pot! Let me know if you can find a decent porcelain pot that's under 120 ml. I've been looking for one for quite some time. I actually saw that Mud & Leaves had a couple 120 ml pots, but they seem to be out of stock.

[Bok]

I've whined a fair amount about my mispurchases on my quest for a small glazed pot, so maybe I should post about the good ones. This delicate 140ml Jingdezhen Qinghua pot arrived last week from Mud & Leaves. Never ordered before, so wasn't exactly sure what I was getting. Unpacking experience was a bit odd, not unlike a cheap Ali Express purchase (half a dozen super-tight layers of smelly wraps and foams, smelly storage box). For a moment, I thought I might find some $5 worth of pot inside, with a vague resemblance to the shop pictures. But out came this cute little pot. The store pictures (not to mention my phone snaps below) don't really do it justice, it's beautiful. The paintings facing the (right-handed) pourer and the guest seem thoughtfully balanced. The walls are pretty thin (easily visible Qinghua from the inside, fully opaque from the outside). The pour is a pleasant, quiet stream. It takes a few days of practice to reliably start off without losing a drop, but it's not a problem after you get a feel for the pot. (Stopping is another matter: I use solo cup/gong dao bei, or pour two cups without lifting when using this pot. I find it difficult to alternate cups in the Japanese style without dripping.). Most importantly, it doesn't impart any flavors and produces wonderful brews. A new favorite for my oolong exploration.

That's a nice pot! Let me know if you can find a decent porcelain pot that's under 120 ml. I've been looking for one for quite some time. I actually saw that Mud & Leaves had a couple 120 ml pots, but they seem to be out of stock.

Try Taobao, lots of porcelain and that’s where most of these come from anyways.

A random, five minute search yielded all this and many, many more, all below 120ml.

[debunix]

And here's a lovely set that just popped up on Etsy by Ray Morales. I've purchased bowls and cups from him that are beautifully functional, and I'd expect his pots to be the same.

[LeoFox]

I've whined a fair amount about my mispurchases on my quest for a small glazed pot, so maybe I should post about the good ones. This delicate 140ml Jingdezhen Qinghua pot arrived last week from Mud & Leaves. Never ordered before, so wasn't exactly sure what I was getting. Unpacking experience was a bit odd, not unlike a cheap Ali Express purchase (half a dozen super-tight layers of smelly wraps and foams, smelly storage box). For a moment, I thought I might find some $5 worth of pot inside, with a vague resemblance to the shop pictures. But out came this cute little pot. The store pictures (not to mention my phone snaps below) don't really do it justice, it's beautiful. The paintings facing the (right-handed) pourer and the guest seem thoughtfully balanced. The walls are pretty thin (easily visible Qinghua from the inside, fully opaque from the outside). The pour is a pleasant, quiet stream. It takes a few days of practice to reliably start off without losing a drop, but it's not a problem after you get a feel for the pot. (Stopping is another matter: I use solo cup/gong dao bei, or pour two cups without lifting when using this pot. I find it difficult to alternate cups in the Japanese style without dripping.). Most importantly, it doesn't impart any flavors and produces wonderful brews. A new favorite for my oolong exploration.

That's a nice pot! Let me know if you can find a decent porcelain pot that's under 120 ml. I've been looking for one for quite some time. I actually saw that Mud & Leaves had a couple 120 ml pots, but they seem to be out of stock.

Try Taobao, lots of porcelain and that’s where most of these come from anyways.

A random, five minute search yielded all this and many, many more, all below 120ml.

In some ways these look better, and likely much cheaper

[teatray]

On Taobao, without knowledge of language/manufacturers/prices/etc., how would one go about differentiating offerings from different sellers at varying price points? I got some search terms by switching article language on Wikipedia or letting Taobao autocomplete, e.g.:

• handmade -- 手工
• qīnghuā (blue on white) -- 青花
• porcelain -- 瓷器
• => blue on white porcelain -- 青花瓷
• teapot -- 茶壶
• => blue and white teapot -- 青花 茶壶
• Jingdezhen (city) -- 景德镇市
• => Jingdezhen teapot -- 景德镇市 茶壶

...but I find lots of stuff at all sorts of prices, from $5 to hundreds of $. On some pictures, I can clearly see that it's a lower quality product than what I got, e.g. some Dehua pots for $20-30 without claims of being handmade or hand-painted. Then there are $20 or even $5 "hand-painted Jingdezhen" pots, some with great pictures. Are they for real? If so, the Dehua seller would look like a scammer, but my limited experience tells me it's likely the Dehua seller is genuine and including real pictures of the actual products he sends, while the cheap ones will not really look like their pictures, esp. up close.

From the higher-priced, hand-painted Jingdezhen pots that turn up on Taobao, there's this 120ml one for $110 and this 140ml one for $146. (Careful not to get it from a definite scammer for more than double.) Seem like nice pots. One is from Tmall, the other from a high-reputation seller, so I guess they are the real deal. Maybe they are comparable products to the M&L ($139), or maybe they are even better? The M&L looks finer to me, but I hold it in my hand and can only compare with photos, and these things do seem to look better in person. (Also, after a certain price point, they can be made using more traditional techniques, such as wood-firing, and the effects/irregularities they produce may be a matter of taste and no direct indication of quality/value compared to electric/gas-fired pots without such issues.)

FWIW, the one thing I can say definitely about the M&L is that it's in a different category than the cheaper ($5-$25) pots I've gotten via Ali Express and the like. The latter seem similar to what I saw in street shops on trips to China some years ago--stuff that's fine for the few bucks or cents it costs, but certainly not delicately made.

I've no idea how much you'd pay in China for similar quality as the pot I got. Acc/to M&L's pitch, it's handmade and hand-painted in their own Jingdezhen studio (using "traditional Jingdezhen porcelain production techniques"). Whatever that means, it could be that M&L is including a healthy markup for selecting & offering relatively good pots in a way that's more accessible to Western customers. Not necessarily a bad thing (unless excessive) but it could also be not the case at all. Comparing to Taobao pics makes me think I got an OK deal, with less markup than I was initially assuming.

[DailyTX]

Just wanted to point out Jingdezhen and dehua are two different types of porcelain, so how they are being value also differ. Jingdezhen is valued based on painting skill while dehua is judged based on the color of the glaze. Buying dehua online can be as tricky as buying jade due to the color and clarity of the glaze vary depended on lighting and photography. If the goal is to buy a 100 ml porcelain teapot, a vintage Jingdezhen wine pot would be suffice. Here is an example:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/284882425108

Good luck!

[teatray]

Think you may have linked the wrong item? (it's a large teapot). Curious to see what type of vessel you suggest.

[LeoFox]

All I know is that that the m and l gaiwan is quite muting and I tend to use it now only for lesser teas

[DailyTX]

Think you may have linked the wrong item? (it's a large teapot). Curious to see what type of vessel you suggest.

@teatray my bad, here is my set next to the common Mi Tong cup. You can just search rice grain teapot online, should be less than 100 usd per set.

[Bok]

Think you may have linked the wrong item? (it's a large teapot). Curious to see what type of vessel you suggest.

teatray my bad, here is my set next to the common Mi Tong cup. You can just search rice grain teapot online, should be less than 100 usd per set.

I’d caution that these are usually a bit too thick for most teas.

In any case if someone goes the Taobao route than I’d search for a price point of about 1/3 of what western facing vendors sell to see a similar level of quality. It’s often still cheap enough to test it.

From my experience the difference of a cheap quality and high quality porcelain is not that much reflected in the cup as it is for Yixing. They just might break easier.

Muting is more of an issue, that means the firing has probably some issues or the glaze…