Colourful Teaware

This tea tray is made with imitation antique clay glaze, with a smooth and glossy glaze surface and a thick and solid body, giving it a sense of antique elegance, tranquillity, and warmth. The hand-painted picture is vivid and natural, depicting lifelike pomegranates.

‘San Duo’ is a traditional auspicious pattern in China, originating from the phrase “Hua Feng San Zhu Duo Fu, Duo Shou, Duo Zi,” which means “abundant blessings, longevity, and many children.” Traditional patterns often consist of Buddha’s hand citron, peaches, and pomegranates. This pattern features pomegranates. In ancient China, pomegranates symbolized a prosperous and auspicious life with abundance, good fortune, and prosperity. The pomegranate is red both inside and outside, symbolizing a vibrant life and passionate individuals. As the pomegranate has numerous seeds, people use it as a symbol of wishing for a large and prosperous family, and the ancients referred to it as ‘a thousand chambers with the same membrane, a thousand children as one’.

This tea tray is made using the overglaze technique, with vibrant and full colours in the painted design. Each lid bowl is individually hand-painted by skilled artists, making each one unique and machine-printed decals cannot compare with.

This small and delicate Dou Cai Pi Qiu Hua tea tray is meticulously crafted with the technique of clashing colour.

As we all know, Doucai is a precious art form in traditional Chinese porcelain craftsmanship. It originated and was fired during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, and Dou Cai from the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty is highly esteemed. Dou Cai is a type of decoration that combines underglaze blue (qinghua) and overglaze colour painting.

Dou Cai involves applying mineral pigments onto the previously fired underglaze blue porcelain, filling in the gaps left by the underglaze blue patterns and colouring the space within the outline of the underglaze blue design. The porcelain is then fired in a lower-temperature kiln (800°C). Dou Cai is renowned for its vibrant and varied colour palette, as well as its refined and sophisticated decorative style that reflects the aesthetic taste of the Ming Dynasty.

The decorative pattern of Pi Qiu Hua (皮球花), also known as little tuan hua (小团花) or embroidery ball flower, evolved from the traditional tuan hua pattern on porcelain. This pattern has been present since the Sui Dynasty, and it combines abstract and representational elements. It takes various forms, resembling a spherical shape, hence the name Pi Qiu Hua (皮球花).

The decorative patterns on Chinese porcelain always carry auspicious meanings. Since the Pi Qiu Hua pattern originated from tuan hua, it inherits the traditional tuan hua motifs such as tuan long (团龙), tuan feng (团凤), and tuan hua (团花). These traditional motifs symbolize the abundance and beauty of life.

This beautiful tea tray, with its vibrant colours and exquisite craftsmanship, is an eye-catching presence wherever it is placed. Imagine having a cup of spring tea by using this charming tea tray, it could be the most delightful experience for a day!

This tea tray is handcrafted using the technique of Blue-and-white underglaze colour and enamel glazed paint. The design features a pattern of butterflies amid flowers, displaying rich and lifelike colours, creating a unique and charming ambiance.

Blue and White Enamel is a distinctive porcelain decoration technique that combines the traditional methods of blue and white with enamel. It is a variation of the traditional Chinese porcelain production, blending the characteristics of blue and white with enamel, resulting in a captivating and unique decorative style.

Blue and White refers to the technique of painting blue patterns on the porcelain surface. It originated during the Yuan dynasty but reached its peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This decorative method uses cobalt oxide blue pigments that fuse with the porcelain surface at high temperatures, ensuring the patterns’ durability.

Enamel, on the other hand, is a decorative technique that involves transplanting the cloisonné enamel method onto a porcelain body as an overglaze colour decoration. Enamel decoration on porcelain, known as “Fàlángcǎi” in Chinese, entails painting colourful patterns on the porcelain surface and then firing it at high temperatures to fuse the colours with the porcelain, achieving a durable and splendid design. These patterns often feature exquisite themes such as flowers, birds, figures, and landscapes, reflecting the essence of traditional Chinese culture and art.

The process of creating enamel decorations is extremely intricate and complex, requiring skilled and experienced craftsmen. First, the porcelain prototype is made, and then special mineral pigments are used to paint patterns on its surface. Once the painting is completed, a series of firing processes follow, during which the temperature and timing for both the porcelain and the enamel colours are crucial factors. Improper temperature or timing can result in cracks in the porcelain or unstable colours. Enamel decoration is considered a treasure in traditional Chinese craftsmanship, representing the wisdom and skills of ancient Chinese artisans.

The combination of blue and white enamel unites these two techniques, typically starting with the blue and white technique to depict blue patterns, and then applying enamel decoration to add additional colours and enhance the visual effect and three-dimensional sense of the design. This decorative method enriches the patterns on the porcelain while preserving the distinctive features of both blue and white and enamel techniques. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, blue and white enamel reached its peak and became one of the main styles for porcelain decoration at that time.

The design on this tea tray showcases lifelike patterns of butterflies amid flowers. “Butterflies in Love with Flowers” symbolises sweet love and blissful marriage. In recent times, people have endowed this motif with more profound meanings, expressing good wishes and symbolizing beautiful and prosperous love. Butterflies are often seen as symbols of happiness and love, inspiring and captivating people’s imagination, and aspirations. In traditional Chinese literature, a pair of flying butterflies represents the pursuit of free and passionate love. Butterflies are loyal to their mates, having only one partner throughout their lives, making them a symbol of fidelity in the insect world. Moreover, there is a beautiful Chinese folktale known as “The Butterfly Lovers,” which further enhances the symbolism of sweet love and harmonious marriage associated with the motif of butterflies and flowers.

This enamel-decorated tea tray displays a rich and colourful palette, with lively and dynamic brushstrokes, immersing people in an elegant artistic ambiance while enjoying their tea.

This tea tray is made with wood ash glaze, with a smooth and glossy glaze surface and a thick and solid body, giving it a sense of antique elegance, tranquillity, and warmth. The hand-painted picture is vivid and natural, depicting lifelike pomegranates.

In ancient China, pomegranates symbolized a prosperous and auspicious life with abundance, good fortune, and prosperity. The pomegranate is red both inside and outside, symbolizing a vibrant life and passionate individuals. As the pomegranate has numerous seeds, people use it as a symbol of wishing for a large and prosperous family, and the ancients referred to it as ‘a thousand chambers with the same membrane, a thousand children as one’.

This tea tray is made using the overglaze technique, with vibrant and full colours in the painted design. Each lid bowl is individually hand-painted by skilled artists, making each one unique and machine-printed decals cannot compare with.