After my recent teapot breakage I have been meditating on
the whole concept of teapots. Although I
have written a ton on such things (see here and here), I feel that I have much more to
say about teawares. Please reader, join
me in a series of posts that look at the beloved teapot…
To me the teapot is both an object of art in and of itself
and an indispensable element in the greater art of tea. The later could either be as the performance
art of tea ceremony or in the skillful art of preparing tea or “gong fu cha”.
If you see the teapot as only an object of art then it
serves no actual practical purpose other than that of art itself. If you like to collect this type of art and
display it- that’s fine by me because I also enjoy looking. However, to me, the real art of the teapot is
in its use.
The teapot is 3-D, three dimensional, because it is
sculpture. To view a teapot in a photo
or on a screen is to not do it any justice.
When appreciating sculpture you have to see it at different vantage
points to truly appreciate it.
The teapot is also functional art in that it serves a
purpose- to make tea. Historically, it
was made for this purpose and because tea holds an important part in many
societies- its make was both practical and for appreciation. This appreciation developed into an art. In actually using the teapot to make tea, we
can we also appreciate its art on a deeper level by picking it up and appreciating
its texture, its weight, the sound its lid makes when closing it, the sound hot
water makes when filling it, the sight of its pour.
However, only by making tea in ceremony or, alternatively,
by brewing gong fu cha (with great skill) can we reach the deepest level of
appreciation. At this level the teapot
is only a smaller part of the art of preparing tea. Its selection, to improve the tea steeping esthetic
as well as to improve that particular tea which you intend to steep. Basically, you are selecting that teapot
because you think it will improve the taste or bring out a certain desirable
quality in a certain type of tea. The
selection of a certain teapot also should be in harmony with, the guests,
season, other teawear, the environment, the person preparing the tea, and in the
esthetic of the guests you are serving. It
is at this level where art emulates life.
And life is tea.
I suppose, issues of art aside, there is also the financial
part of this as well. An old unused teapot
can command very high prices these days. I’m currently finding the price of quality
yixing has gone through the roof lately, mirroring the price of puerh. Part of this is art collecting,
part of this is increasing interest in puerh, part of this is in speculation,
part is that old items are just being valued at the same price of a new pot of
similar quality.
On the other hand, to actually use the teapot is essentially
devaluing it. Risk of breakage increases. For me, using it with a bunch of small
children around, breakage is an almost certainty. I think some teapot collectors out there
might have groaned when they saw that last pot of mine busted up. However, I think it was definitely the teapot
users out there who could identify with this inevitable situation most.
It goes without saying that I am in the puerh drinker and teapot user categories.
Peace
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