The Porcelain Thread

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LeoFox
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Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:33 am

debunix wrote:
Sun Apr 04, 2021 2:14 am
Beautiful pieces and so interesting to see the tint in the porcelain based on iron content.
The iron content difference can actually be quite small on the order of 0.5%. But that makes enough difference. The whiteness can also be tweaked with amount of calcia apparently.

The impact on tea seems discernable. Octo had a nice thread about it.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=766
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wave_code
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Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:54 am

I really like the shape of that cup - roughly how many ml does it hold? I have some older ones in the noir famille rose pattern from a tea set in that shape- the form and the porcelain are great, and while its kinda too much for me as a set I do like using the cups on their own. but, for less aroma-focused teas I do think it would be nice if they were a tiny bit bigger- for strong oolongs they're a perfect size, but I don't drink that so much.
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LeoFox
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Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:42 am

wave_code wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:54 am
I really like the shape of that cup - roughly how many ml does it hold? I have some older ones in the noir famille rose pattern from a tea set in that shape- the form and the porcelain are great, and while its kinda too much for me as a set I do like using the cups on their own. but, for less aroma-focused teas I do think it would be nice if they were a tiny bit bigger- for strong oolongs they're a perfect size, but I don't drink that so much.
It's a tiny cup that holds about 19 mL to the brim! As you implied, it is great to focus the aromas as they are directed right into the nose.

This design is called "matibei" and was based on some artefact shown to the studio.

I have been using it to hold a bit of the rinse to taste at the end of sessions...as well as for highly aromatic bai jiu. It facilitates slow analytical tasting.

Would be great to see some pics of your set.
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wave_code
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:11 am

Mine are maybe slightly smaller- hold about 15ml filled to the point where you can just still actually pick it up. The whole set is the pot, 4 cups, a matching tray, plus a small and pretty useless spoon which I haven't seen with other sets. At about 90ml for the pot its a good set for oolong, but the tiny opening of the pot is a little fidgety for big or tangled leaves, and getting rolled leaves out while not impossible generally involves using the kitchen sink. I'm sticking to using it mainly for broken/small leaves for that reason- I made some liu an in it the other day and it worked super well, the porcelain is quite thick. I could see it being good for CTC type teas or fine buds too. The set together is too much for me looks wise, and so are the mun shou ones, but I really like the porcelain so I tend to just use the cups or pot separate and it tones it down a lot. Paired with wood and a clay pot I find them actually quite nice then.
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LeoFox
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:11 am

@wave_code
Seems to have a nice blue gray hue! A nice looking set! Thank you for sharing!
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LeoFox
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Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:16 am

Enjoying a nice rougui with this tiny de hua porcelain cup
viewtopic.php?p=34982#p34982

I'm noticing that it not only presents the aroma perfectly to the nose, it forces me to suck up the last 1/3 of the liquid, which further aerates the tea, seemingly enhancing the experience. Really great for slow contemplative sessions.
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Ethan Kurland
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Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:08 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:16 am
I'm noticing that it not only presents the aroma perfectly to the nose, it forces me to suck up the last 1/3 of the liquid, which further aerates the tea, seemingly enhancing the experience. Really great for slow contemplative sessions.
Teadoff, a member who hardly ever posts now, explained why that type of cup is ideal. Unfortunately, he pushes his guests to drink while the tea is hot (or maybe just me because I talk too much); so, slow contemplation was not possible. Width allows us to enjoy aroma & the tea does not cool as fast in your cup as it would in saucers (which I often drink from, but I like tea cooler than most people). Good of you to remind us of options at the other end (most emphasis is put on the preparation side).
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wave_code
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Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:38 am

Anyone on here have experience with Bero's porcelain? I really like a lot of his work and its extra interesting to me that he seems to be one of the few people who does both porcelain and raw and glazed clays. His porcelain pots look like quite dense, and I'm wondering if the walls are as thick as they look? I'm leaning towards picking up either a pot with a glaze that is neutral, or looking for more thicker walled porcelain for hei cha where I don't want any clay muting. Most of mine cool down too quickly and were clearly made for things like oolongs.
DailyTX
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Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:41 pm

I picked up this porcelain kettle with whimsical drawings recently. Initially, I was thinking of using it as a decor, but now I wonder if it would work as tea storage, maybe loose shu? I am planning to seal the filter from the inside so it limits the air flow and other things that may get into this kettle. What do you think? ;)
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Thu Jul 01, 2021 8:22 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:41 pm
What do you think? ;)
Good idea!
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TankCla
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Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:01 am

Hello
I recently bought from someone a tea set and I would appreciate if someone could identify the pot style and may translate the writing on the cups.

Thank you!
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wave_code
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Fri Jul 16, 2021 7:44 am

Picked this up out of curiosity since it was just a couple dollars... maybe I'm wrong about the date but this is a gift set from I believe, if google is translating right, Mingsheng Tea Factory in Anxi, maybe from the 80s? I don't know if AnBao was another brand name for that factory, or the porcelain company, or just the company that this would maybe have been given from as a corporate gift. Could be newer though too, no idea. I find its kind of interesting in regards to current tea 'gift' sets... even if they are crappy tea and come in unnecessarily large boxes they look pretty refined compared to this monstrosity. In addition to being super ugly the gold plastic box is broken and smells awful after decades in a basement/attic so I'll just get rid of it. I suspect what the seller thought were "Chinese lanterns" :roll: are caddies that at one point had oolong from the factory in them - empty now. The gaiwan is about 100ml, but made super sloppy and the lid doesn't really seal at all and you can see has some sharp defects on the lid - I might try and sand down the ones on the underside of the lip and see if it makes it usable. The cups are quite thin though, so all in all just a bit of a curiosity that resulted in a couple usable cz style cups.
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wave_code
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Mon Sep 06, 2021 5:52 am

A couple more recent cups I was quite happy to come across...

First being another pair of these nice flared thimble shape cups. I really like this darker color scheme over the typical all pinkish red mun shou porcelain, and I've seen some very nice older gaiwans with the peach motif, but only on white porcelain and not on a colored/patterned background like this. I wonder if these came from a larger set with a pot at some point as well. I'd love a complete set if so since I really like the coloration on these. 80's era red Made in China marking on the underside, factory 07.
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Second is a I believe ROC/70's hand painted ling long with 'wan yu' mark (upside down in my photo). The coloration on these seems to vary a lot more piece to piece, this one has a light but noticeable celadon green tint to it, though it doesn't show up much in the photo. Perfect size to go with a small 80ml pot so this cup will probably be seeing lots of TGY.
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wave_code
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Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:12 am

maybe someone here has more knowledge about older cups could clear this up...
I recently got a set of these cups, I've seen them referred to as lilypad design in rough translations. I always liked this shape/pattern a lot. These particular ones I am guessing are either produced later, from a very different style batch, or are replicas. I also was never sure if this shape/style were actually Chinese or Japanese in origin, although I always had the impression they were actually Japanese imitating Chinese style due its popularity - anyone know more definitively? There seem to mainly be this design in this shape, and another in the same shape of a fisherman on a boat that seem to be the most common, or only ones I typically see in this shape.

The color on these is off from a lot of other batches I've seen and is quite different from my late Qing/ROC cups- the overall blue/green tint in the white is much stronger, the blue is lighter and more transparent than it often is, glaze overall seems too thin and has some crackling in it, and the foot looks off like the base clay is too dark and too thick. My knowledge on all this, especially Japanese wares is limited, but given that things like seto ware seem to have a more warm/yellow color to the porcelain base it would make sense that one would need to artificially cool/blue tint a glaze to imitate the look of older Fujian cups.
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Bok
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Mon Feb 28, 2022 6:30 pm

Definitely Japanese. Shape, colour, glaze, decorations. Age is more tricky, but no older than early 20th Cent I’d guess.
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