These 45ml cups are a joy to hold and drink from, with its textured 'jumping knife' pattern and an easy-sipping profile. Fully handmade in Jianshui by master potters.
Fast becoming a favourite cup at our house, let's start with the shape. The flatter profile makes for a very stable cup with a low centre of gravity to avoid spillages. The splayed rim is a delight to drink from with an easy-sipping style that requires no tilting of your neck at all.
The texture is a joy to hold, adorned with the highly skilled 'Jumping Knife' pattern, and the weight gives it a comforting solidity in the hands.
The cup has been polished so that the textured area is sanded slightly more to make it bronzed against the darker smooth rims. This is the opposite of the Jumping Knife Pot (polished on the smooth rims and darker on the pattern) to add a nice visual contrast and complement when paired together.
ABOUT JIANSHUI ZITAO
All of our Jianhsui teaware is made by the potter in the video below and is handcrafted individually. Read more about the unique Jianshui production process below. Every piece is totally individual and there are natural variations in colour and design.
Jianshui clay is lesser known than its cousins, Yixing purple clay and Chaozhou red clay but Jianshui has a long history of clay teaware making and a unique style and character which we love at Mei Leaf.
The clay used comes from five different ores from the surrounding hills around Jianshui in Yunnan. The five ores (white, yellow, purple, cyan and five colour) are blended and cured to make a clay which is strong and stable with excellent heat retention and tea softening qualities.
Once the clay has been made, it is kneaded and thrown on the potter's wheel to be formed by hand without the use of any moulding. This is completely handmade and a testament to the immense skills of the Jianshui potters.
The clay wares are fired in kilns for up to 20 hours at around 1000 degrees Celsius and are then hand sanded to reveal different colours from black to bronze.
