The acquisition of handmade Asian tea art should have its beginnings
at Holy Mountain Trading Company. We believe that some of the finest tea
art in the world is being produced in the Orient. At Holy Mountain you will
find exceptional examples of Japanese tetsubin, mainland Chinese
Yixing ware, and exquisite Taiwanese teapots. We select tea art of
universal beauty, whimsey, and timeless form that exemplify the culture of
taking tea. Our mission is to provide you with tea ware that is not only
aesthetically pleasing and spiritually satisfying, but also the very best
for brewing superb tea.
All prices include free shipping and handling within the continental United States on
orders of $50 or more. A $6 shipping charge will be added to all orders in the continental United States
under $50. International orders and those shipped to Alaska and Hawaii will be accessed U.S.
Postal Service shipping charges for the package. Your order comes with
our guarantee. Orders are taken Monday through
Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST by calling our toll-free number,
888-TEA-8008 (888-832-8008, orders only please)
or 24 hours a day by clicking here for a
Secure Order
Form.
Tetsubin or iron teapots were originally kitchen items used for boiling water and brewing
tea. During the mid-19th century as infused tea-drinking became popular, tetsubin were
no longer viewed as kitchen items, but as status symbols. The two prefectures best
known for tetsubin are Iwate, which is considered to produce the best designs and quality
at a reasonable price, and Yamagata, which is best known for the handmade tetsubin and
changama that are preferred by the tea ceremony masters.
The earliest Japanese ceramics were unglazed sueki and ash-glazed earthenwares. The latter developed into Seto ware,
the only glazed ware in the Middle Ages (13th-16th Centuries). Early Seto ware shows the strong influence of Chinese
pottery. The understated sueki works became especially popular with the rise of the Tea Ceremony in the Edo Period
(16th-19th Centuries). Porcelain manufacture began on a full-scale at the end of the 16th Century with the rise of
Hizen, Early-Imari, Kakiemon, Ko-Imari, Nabeshima, and Ko-Kutani wares.
| This ceramic tea set has a pink cherry blossom design against a white
background glaze. The teapot has a bamboo handle and comes with four matching tea cups. |
| This ceramic teapot in brown and taupe glazes with Japanese characters has
a wrapped bamboo handle and four matching teacups. |
| 110-394 |
Green Bamboo Tea Set |
Teapot: 6" l. x 4-3/4" w. x 4" ht.; 24 oz.
Cups: 3-1/4" dia. x 2" ht.; 6 oz. |
$50/set |
| This Japanese ceramic tea set features a green glaze with a bamboo
leaf motif, a symbol of abundance and utility. The teapot holds a generous 24 ounces and comes
with four matching teacups. |
| This white ceramic tea set features a square teapot with
contrasting-colored lid and wrapped bamboo handle; the sides of the teapot and the four
matching cups are decorated with fine Japanese calligraphy. |
| This two-tone blue glazed ceramic teapot has a wrapped bamboo handle and
four matching tea cups. |
| This ceramic teapot with glazed black body and blue lid features a wrapped
bamboo handle and comes with four matching tea cups. |
| This Japanese ceramic tea set features a turquoise glaze and comes
with four matching teacups. |
| This ceramic teapot has a gunmetal gray glaze with a wrapped bamboo handle
and two matching tea cups. |
| This silvery sky-blue ceramic tea set has two matching cups and
features a two-tone glaze; the teapot has a wrapped bamboo handle. |
| This ceramic teapot features a two-tone glaze of aqua-green and black with
a wrapped bamboo handle. Four two-tone glazed tea cups in different but complementary colors are
included in the set.
|
| This teapot features a matte aqua glaze with a leaf motif incised in the
body; the handle is wrapped bamboo. Two matching tea cups accompany the tea set. It matches the
170-209 Plate Toruko Matte Konoha shown with it in the product photograph and available separately.
|
| This square-shaped ceramic teapot in a turquoise gloss glaze has a wrapped
bamboo handle and is accompanied by four complementary cups, each in a different pastel shade.
|
| This square-shaped ceramic teapot features a two-tone aqua and buff gloss
glaze and has a wrapped bamboo handle. Four matching cups complete the tea set.
|
| This square-shaped ceramic teapot has a green glossy glaze with gray
Japanese calligraphy on the body of the pot. The handle is wrapped bamboo, and four matching cups
complete the tea set.
|
| This cream-colored ceramic tea set features a small liddled pot with a side
handle and two matching cups with irregularly-shaped rims.
|
| This ceramic tea set with four matching cups features a dark green, light green and turquoise-banded
glaze with a "spring poem" painted in black Japanese calligraphy on both the pot and cups. The teapot has a bamboo handle. |
| This ceramic teapot has a two-tone green glaze and a natural bamboo handle.
Two matching cups complete the tea set.
|
| This ceramic teapot features a cream glaze on the body with a contrasting
taupe glaze on both the spout and finial. On the side of the pot is a design of a resting cat; it has
a segmented, bamboo handle with antique patina. Four matching cups with cat motif complete the tea
set.
|
| This side-handle eramic teapot features a gray glaze with designs of taupe
leaves on the pot body and lid. Two matching cups complete the tea set.
|
| This ceramic teapot has a dark blue glossy glaze on the body and a white
lid with a blue design of cherry blossoms; the finial is a blue glazed ball. Two matching teacups
with a dark blue exterior and white interior with a cherry blossom motif complete the tea set.
|
| This ceramic tea set has a pink cherry blossom design against
a white background glaze. Two matching tea cups complete the tea set. |
| This elegent ceramic teapot has a black-on-gray glazed arabesque design
and a wrapped bamboo handle. Four matching teacups with a dark gray interior complete the tea set.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a rustic black and white glaze,
inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a white glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a random design with rustic earthy glaze in warm tones.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a modernistic design reminiscent of a
yin-yang symbol.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a modernistic design reminiscent of a
yin-yang symbol.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has an orange-red glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a turquoise glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a charcoal gray glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a black glaze on the exterior of the
cup, while the interior has an aqua glaze with a random pattern. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a mottled deep turquoise glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teacup has a mustard yellow glaze, inside and out. |
115-183 Teapot Square/Kaku Oribe Koushi (24 oz.) $60
This contemporary Oribe inspired teapot has a rectangular shape, combination green glaze and matte beige finish, and a bamboo handle.
115-184 Teapot Square/Kaku Oribe Soubun (32 oz.)$75
This contemporary Oribe inspired teapot has a rectangular shape, combination green glaze and matte beige finish, and a bamboo handle.
115-189 Discontinued
115-191 Teapot Mentori Natsume Oribe $55
This contemporary Oribe inspired teapot has a green glaze and a bamboo handle.
115-193 Discontinued
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a whitish-beige glaze, inside and out. |
| This small ceramic teapot has a wrapped handle and silvery metallic glaze. |
115-215 Teapot Houbin Kurosen (8 oz.)$24
This small ceramic teapot with black glaze has no handle and brews a single cup of tea.
115-216 Teapot Houbin Yakishime (8 oz.)$24
This small ceramic teapot made of light clay with a terracotta brushstroke glaze has no handle and brews a single cup of tea.
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modernistic design reminiscent of a
yin-yang symbol.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modern design with metal high handle and a mottled verdigris glaze. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modern design with metal high handle and an orange-red glaze. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modern design with metal high
handle. The body of the teapot has a black glaze, and the lid of the pot has an aqua glaze
with a random pattern. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a charcoal gray glaze. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modern design with metal high
handle and a turquoise glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a modern design with metal high
handle and a mustard yellow glaze, inside and out. |
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a turquoise glaze, inside and out. |
115-657 Discontinued
115-658 Discontinued
| This stylish teapot made of black clay has a side handle.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teapot has a side handle and a random design
with rustic earthy glaze in warm tones.
|
| This Japanese ceramic teapot features an interlocking ring design that meanders from pot body to lid on one side in a tan and brown glaze. The
teapot has a side handle.
|
| This ceramic plate is shaped like a giant leaf and has a soft turquoise
matte glaze. The leaf's veins are unglazed. It matches the 110-455 Tea Set 1:2 Toruko Matte Konoha which is shown with it in the product photograph and is available separately.
|
Somayaki is characterized by the ao-hibi, or blue-green crackling that covers the surface.
An apple ash and sumi-kannyu glaze is used to achieve this effect. Somaware can also be recognized
by the hashiri-uma, or galloping horse motif. This motif is said to have been requested by a
feudal lord in the mid-1600's, to show pride in the region's ability to breed and train quality horses.
Perhaps the most distinguishing design feature of Soma ware is the double-walled construction. The inner
and outer pieces are thrown separately by the potter, and allowed to dry and firm for a short period.
The inner piece is then mated to the outer piece. This design not only keeps the liquid inside hot, but also the
outer surface cool, allowing one to easily hold the vessel.
Furuta Oribe was one of the most influential tea masters in Japan, succeeding Sen no Rikyu
in the 16th century. He introduced a feeling of modernism through his approach to ceramics and other arts
and crafts, compared to the austereness dominant during the time. His use of unusual and organic shapes,
and boldly colored glazes and designs was such a departure, that it was influential far beyond just the
ceramic and tea ceremony circles.
Mashiko ware is a prime example of the folkcraft revival, or Mingei movement, that took
place in Japan in the early 20th century. Mashiko ware was first produced in the mid-1800s, but
began to decline at the beginning of the 20th century. It was not until the artists Soetsu Yanagi,
Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai started the Mingei movement in the early 1920s that
it was revived. The distinctive folkcraft appearance and modest simplicity of Mashiko ware are a
few of its many appealing features.
The pottery producing region of Mino, in Gifu prefecture,
is home to many traditional kilns. The founder of the kiln that produced the items below began
firing Shino and Oribe during the end of the Edo Period, in the late 1860s. This was a very
tumultuous time in the history of Japan; the Meiji Restoration that followed saw the once isolationist
country open its doors to modernization and western influences. Sadly, due to the changing times,
many traditional artisans were pressured to abandoned their crafts. The founder of this kiln
was able to protect his traditional operation, and it is now run by the fifth generation. They
continue to specialize in Shino and Oribe.
CER-1 Gift Certificates
A Holy Mountain gift certificate makes a perfect gift.
Specify the number of certificates you want, in any denomination
($20 minimum). Each will arrive in 3-5 business days with a gift
envelope, a personalized message and directions to our web site
catalog for ordering.
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