Rev’s Tea Corner – tea ware: sidehandle

tea ware: sidehandle

rather than a tea leaf, i’m loving up the tea vessel. as with anything you enter deeply, the entire practice of tea — the verb of it: to tea — situates itself in different aspects for some time. i spent years mostly using a gaiwan or covered bowl to brew tea. that let me honor culture and get this contribution of the Tang dynasty in my bones. the sidehandle is another vessel altogether. its appearance is common to what water would have been boiled in, and still is by some when dropping into the simplicity of the most basic expression of tea: leaves in a bowl.
pour water.

 Method:
i was lucky (or persistent) enough to find a small sidehandle pot made by Petr Novak who is arguably my favorite ceramicist in my still-novel exploration. other than materials (iron rich clays) and technique (wood-fired and electric,) Petr’s wares express the most important thing in the practice: he teas. every detail hidden in the rustic simplicity is the result of someone that has put leaves in a bowl and poured water over them, or dropped them in the pot itself and learned exactly how tight a lid should be, where the button sits and how the carburetor makes it all flow to the final step: drink.