Rustic Clay Master Cup 80ml

Rustic clay master cup in coarse Dehua stoneware, 80ml

This rustic clay master cup is a master cup, the one cup a gongfu host keeps back for themselves, thrown by hand in coarse Dehua stoneware with an 80 ml bowl. You buy it on its own rather than as part of a set because it doesn't need to match the guest cups and isn't meant to. It only has to sit well in your hand and suit what you drink.

Oolong, aged white tea and ripe pu-erh all drink well from it. The bowl is wide and shallow, 6.6 cm across and 4 cm tall, so the tea gets more surface. Aroma comes up fast and the cup cools quickly.

What we notice most is the clay at the lip. White glaze is brushed over the upper half, the lower body is left bare and dark, and even through the glaze you feel the grain of the stoneware at the rim. Iron speckles from the firing are left as they are. The cup sits in the palm on a short unglazed foot.

One of a kind

Every cup is thrown by hand, so measurements move by a few millimetres and no two glaze bands land the same way. The one you get won't look exactly like the photo, and that suits a cup you keep for yourself.

Product details

• Capacity: 80 ml
• Width: 6.6 cm
• Height: 4.0 cm
• Material: coarse stoneware clay
• Firing: high-temperature reduction
• Finish: white glaze over bare clay, unglazed foot ring
• Origin: Dehua, Fujian, China

This works well for

• Your own cup at the tea table
• Drinking oolong or ripe pu-erh from a gaiwan, one pour at a time
• A gift for someone who has guest cups and wants one that's theirs

If you're in Hobart, come and hold it at our Salamanca Tea Bar before you decide. For a cup like this, weight and lip feel tell you more than any photo can.

About master cups

At a gongfu table the guest cups usually match. The host's own cup, zhu ren bei, is the exception, chosen for the hand and the tea rather than to match the table.

Care

Rinse with hot water before first use. Hand wash only, no dishwasher or microwave. The foot ring is unglazed, so use a coaster on polished timber or glass.

Shipping

Ships from Hobart, Tasmania. Free shipping on orders over $95 Australia-wide. The cup is wrapped and boxed with padding.

Related

Tea Wares · Gaiwan · Teapots