Baby Penguin Tea Pet — Handmade Yixing Clay

Baby penguin tea pet in unglazed Yixing duanni clay

This baby penguin tea pet is a small unglazed clay figure that lives on your tea tray and gets fed with the tea you don't drink. About the size of a hen's egg, it sits flat on its belly, glossy black eyes and a little orange beak set against a sandy matte body.

Does it change colour? Slowly, yes. Pour spent tea over it and the bare clay drinks it in. Wet, it turns dark and glossy; dry, it settles back to matte grey. Over weeks of sessions the surface deepens and picks up a soft sheen, and no two end up the same. That suits a penguin: a grown one is dark on top, and this one starts pale and earns its colour one pot at a time.

The clay is duanni, a beige-grey member of the zisha family, handmade in Yixing and left unglazed so it can absorb tea. Small iron speckles or pits are normal for fired duanni, not a flaw.

Product details

• Size: about 7 x 5.6 x 4 cm
• Weight: about 93 g
• Material: unglazed Yixing duanni clay, zisha family
• Finish: handmade, maker's seal on the base; each piece varies slightly
• Colour: sandy matte body, black eyes, orange beak; darkens when wet

This works well for

• A desk companion for someone who brews at work
• A first tea pet, small enough for a tray or a small dish
• A pair with the seal for anyone who likes company on the tray

Each one is handmade and varies a little, so no two faces are quite the same. Come and pick one at our Salamanca Tea Bar in Hobart.

About tea pets

Tea drinkers in China have long kept a small clay figure, a cha chong, on the tray. Whatever tea is left in the pot goes over it instead of down the sink, and over the years it takes on the colour of everything you've brewed.

Care

Rinse it or pour tea over it, brush it with a soft tea brush while wet if you like, and let it air dry. No soap.

Shipping

Ships from Hobart, Tasmania. Free shipping on orders over $95 Australia-wide. We wrap it in tissue and pack it in a small padded box.

Related

Tea Pet collection
Baby Seal Tea Pet, the penguin's tray-mate in pale clay.