Tea Pets
I discovered them when Dinosaura provided a link in Emily M’s topic. Does anyone have one?
OMG those are cool!
I need an owl one! I googled and found http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Yixing-tea-pet-owl-big-prime-quality-purple-clay-tea-Seiko-pet-ornaments-sculpture-collection/709497_514555637.html Hhehehe! ehh, little pricey. I rather buy tea.
Yeah, owls don’t seem to be very common. I looked for birds in all the tea shops I went to in Beijing and all I found was a small generic bird and a Mandarin Duck. I brought the duck home! :)
They make some that change colors from clay to gold when you pour tea on them. Like this buddha one!
www.teageek.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=75
Mine is slowly getting golden spots as I’ve been using it! =) Very cool.
I’ve been interested in collecting these for a while, but since I tend toward using different tea methods at home, I can’t justify it…though being into clay myself, I may be fence sitting a lot
Ebay has quite a few, usually under “tea mascots” including some sets of 3 owls that show up occasionally.
What do you mean by “using different methods”? As in using them with a gongfu set?
as in I do not use the gong fu ceremony methods, and the pets are a part of that.
I’m in the same boat. Though I do use gong fu, my set is very cobbled together (I prefer to say my set has wabi-sabi), and I don’t actually have a proper draining tea-tray, which is pretty much required for a tea pet, as to not get water and tea /everywhere/.
However, I did find some nice ones on ebay last year, and since then I’ve been eyeing a coloured turtle one that spits water (made me smile when I saw that frog water-spitting pet posted on here a little while ago; rekindled my want for the turtle one).
Some also spew tea or water! I have seen some on purepuer.com but I didn’t know they were called tea pets.
I found a TeaChat thread through Google. And look what I came across: http://www.chinese-tea-culture.com/tea-ware-8170.html
hahahaha. this one is hilarious
You just beat me to it! I was just posting this.
Don’t know if I’d want it, but it’s amusing, that’s for sure!
Yappychappy, you should see the link I posted above your comment :D
Love them! I brought home from Beijing a Golden Toad, Mandarin Duck and a turtle whose shell is separate from his body and moves around a bit. I definitely want one that is made with ruyao glaze so it crackles as it gets used.
In tea shops during tastings most of the tea merchants were most proud to show me their tea mascots that changed color, or became colorful from being plain, when you poured hot water on them. They make really huge zisha (yixing) clay ones too! It is overwhelming to walk around a shop with so many of them.
The one on http://www.teavivre.com/porcelain-ceramic-tea-sets/ is with Ruyao Glaze i /think/. I want it!
I’m going to be so sad if i don’t get to the tea market…all i wanted to bring back with me was a tea pet :(
That must have been such an incredible experience! Now I know what else to look for when I go to China one day (hopefully!).
Mandarin ducks are beautiful. Would you be willing to post a picture of your tea pets?
I finally found and photographed my tea pets! Here they are after a tea bath from this afternoon’s gongfu session:
http://flic.kr/p/ebfpea
Thank you, Dinsosara! All of them are cute, especially the duck(?). They look very happy.
The Allochroic ones are cool. They have something in the clay that makes them turn gold colored when hot fluids poured on them.
I will be searching myself, but if anyone comes across an otter tea pet/mascot in their travels PLEASE let me know! :)
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