Project Description
Welcome to the Asian Tea Pot section of the Lee Coleman Collection. Each of these tea pots has a special story behind it.
Japanese Caste Iron Tea Pot
A very precious item in the collection, given to me by dear friend Matsunaga Minae, now in her late 80’s, living in Tokyo. Cast iron chagama set, with hibachi on the bottom, filled with sand and iron support under the kettle for boiling the water. My wife and I first saw it in Matsunaga-san’s tiny apartment, where she performed a mini tea ceremony for us.
What an example of mingei! Japanese cast iron tea pot. Somebody had to create a mold that, when filled with molten iron, would create this. Hurrah for patternmakers throughout the world.
Click on any one of the images below to see that image full size.
Chinese Yi-Xing Tea Pot
This is a Chinese Yi-Xing tea pot. Very unusual because of how big it is, and how simple. Most of them are very small, with a lot of fancy decoration. It was given to me by a shop in Monterey, California because it was unusable–completely cracked at the bottom. However, with a little care and some epoxy, I was able to repair it to a functional state. Repairing a beautiful object can be one of the most rewarding aspects of collecting things that love to be used!
Additional Tea Pots. Again, click on an image to see it full size.
Elegant little table I found in a small 2nd hand shop in Kochi on the island of Shikoku, Japan.
