It's Tea Time
Styles and designs of today's tea makerby Alison Otto
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hether it's traditional English or Asian or sleekly designed
for the contemporary kitchen, today there's a tea maker for every tea drinker.
And design counts: Teapots are as much collectors' items as kitchen
appliances. "People have always collected teapots -- the more unique ones
sell," says Marti Lay, owner of Chef!, a housewares and
gourmet shop in Atlanta that sells loose-leaf tea and tea accessories.
"[Collectibles] sell over functionality."
To this end, Lay says her
customers buy plenty of the small Yixing (pronounced yee-shing)
teapots imported from China, which she displays prominently near the cash
register in her store. But because the pots are small, usually holding a few
ounces of water, Lay thinks most Yixing purchases end up being just for show.
"I think most Americans just collect them," she says. When it comes to
actually drinking tea, Lay says, most Americans slurp it down like coffee,
usually turning to infusers and other quick by-the-cup brewing methods. "I
know they're making tea," she says of her customers. "I just don't think
they're really using those beautiful teapots."
The intricate, handmade Yixing
teapot is a hot button for collectors. The pots have been around for thousands
of years, but artists are still creating new styles -- each one signed with a
"chop mark," or artist's signature. The pots, which have fanciful names like
Jade Dragon, Lotus Petals and Lady Acrobat, vary according to the artist, vary
according to the artist, the firing levels and the kind of clay. Today's
Yixing potters are experimenting with various glazes. "This is going to be
the new thing in Yixing," says Leon Bordua, a partner with Holy
Mountain Trading Co., which sells the teapots on the internet.
"They're very attractive. They have Yixing clay inside with a fine crackle
glaze on the outside."
The teapots, which Holy
Mountain sells for $30 to $140, come in hundreds of styles, some intricate
and ornate, some simple and stylized. "Some of the older styles are some of
the simpler styles," says Bordua.
Of course, while the teapot is
a Chinese invention, today's designs reflect the tea-drinking styles of many
nations. From England, there are formal and ornate tea services, and from
American manufacturers, speedy, electric teapots and brewers that fire up
hot water for tea in minutes. "Today's teapots reflect the potter's creativity
and the owner's individual style," writes Sharon O'Connor in Afternoon
Tea Serenade. "You can find pots made of the finest china or the
heftiest stoneware, in classic shapes or in any whimsical form imaginable."The Business Magazine for Specialty Foods, Confections and Upscale Housewares November 1997 |
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