When I learned to make teapots, it seemed necessary to know about drinking tea. I wanted to understand what was important to brewing and serving the drink. This lured me to the tea passion. So, I thought it would be fun - in the spirit of this blog - to turn the tables and offer tea drinkers a brief overview of what is involved in crafting the icon of the industry.

There are four basic components of the teapot: the body, the lid, the handle and the spout.

The body is formed by making a well in the center of a mound of clay, pulling the walls up into a cylinder until it reaches the desired height and thinness, then rounding the walls to close in at the top. The opening for the lid is designed to hold the lid snugly and the base is usually trimmed to create an attractive curve down to the foot of the piece.

The lid is thrown as a separate piece. And, because of the shrinkage of the clay, the lid should be thrown and measured for fit as quickly as possible. The other two elements, the spout and the handle, are also separate elements that must be made to match the body and should be allowed to dry at the same rate. Spouts are usually thrown and handles are “pulled” but there are options to both of these techniques.

If function were the only challenge, making a vessel to prepare tea, were the only consideration, the teapot is still a very difficult form to produce. But the ceramic artist also wants to make the form pleasing to the eye. The artist lives with the personal challenge to make the teapot both useful and beautiful. And the artist must hold an image in his mind of the finished piece during the process. It is not until completion, when the teapot is removed from the final glaze firing, that the potter knows if he has achieved his goal.

There are two sensory aspects of the craft that are essential to the artist during the wet clay stage. Centering and timing. And it is during the wet clay stage of making a teapot that I see similarities with the craftsmanship of artisan teas. Centering the clay is an act of bringing your entire body into a focused harmony with the clay. The plantation manager lives in a similar environmental balance with his plants and the decision of when and how much to pick seem reminiscent of the potters judgment about the proper hydration of the clay prior to joinery.

The separate pieces must dry until they are leather heard before joining them together. But at some time prior to this, the spout must be cut at an angle and the seam for joinery must be traced and the holes for the strainer must be cut into the body. Care must be taken in the handling of the pieces during the assembly. If this is done prematurely, then the balance can become distorted and the lid may not fit the body.

Centering and Timing

A noted ceramic artist, M.C. Richards, in “Centering, In Pottery, Poetry and The Person”, described centering as:

The bringing of the clay into a spinning, unwobbling pivot, which will then be free to take innumerable shapes as potter and clay press against each other. the firm, tender, sensitive pressure which yields as much as it asserts. It is like a handclasp between two living hands, receiving the greeting at the very moment that they give it. It is this speech between the hand and clay that makes me think of dialog.

Making a teapot is not a beginner’s project. It can be a life’s passion, just as the art of growing and processing tea is not a skill that can be learned academically. Both require years of experience. They are both sensitive dialogs with the soil and the environment. And I believe that we tea lovers are attracted to the intimacy of this communication.

We tea lovers are also well aware of the difference between premium loose-leaf tea and machine cut bulk teas. It may be the same leaf from the same plant but the handling changes the flavor. A hand-thrown teapot has the same difference from an industrial teapot. Both may pour tea. The industrial teapot may be lighter and will certainly be less expensive. But the artisan teapot - like the artisan tea - has a vitality that is refreshed with each experience.

Drinking fine teas with elegant vessels - the teapots, cups and other serving utensils - facilitates our becoming more centered and focused like the mound of clay on the wheel. The way we prepare and serve tea is a dialog with the artists who contributed all of the various elements. The potter chose the clay and the dimensions and the glaze. The tea master directed the picking and the drying, the rolling and the sorting. We, as consumers, orchestrate the moment of integration. Like meditation, some of our personal wobbling stabilizes and we can enter into a dialog with the hands of the artists.

I continue to live in awe of the traditions we have preserved for thousands of years as we celebrate tea. Knowing more about the history and culture of tea and ceramic arts adds much the pleasure I experience as I drink my daily brew.

Photo Credits:

The artist it the photographs is Andrew Sanders of Dixon, New Mexico. He and his partner, Miya Endo specialize in wheel-thrown stoneware and raku, a special Japanese firing technique that creates never-to-be-repeated bursts of color and texture. Andrew and Miya enjoy the spontaneity and direct interaction they have with each piece that goes through the stoneware and raku processes. You can see videos of their work on YouTube or through this link. http://www.miyapottery.com/mug.shtml

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