Ru Ware Teal Blue

汝窯內開片鴨綠釉閒情杯

Special Glaze Teacup series: Ru Ware Teal Blue

Magnolia shape teacup with classic Ru ware ( aka Ruyao ) style celadon glaze on the inside and teal blue overglaze on the outside.

Ru ware style is typified with very tiny cracks that cover the surface rather like an irregular spiderweb but not quite visible when the piece of ware is new. Upon repeated usage, tea becomes the patina agent that gives colour to the cracks to give you the similar visual effects on ancient pieces that you can see in museums. There are new products with imitation aged effects made with a different colour glaze on the cracks. However, they are not genuine like these in our Ru ware collection in this Special Glaze Teacup series.

A Song Dynasty Ru Ware warming bowl showing the typical cracked surface glaze effect. Photo credit: National Palace Museum, Taiwan

Closeup of the tiny surface cracks in our Ru ware collection. These almost invisible cracks are not signs of defects, but a special visual effect typical of Ru ware. The lines in the cracks will be gradually more visible upon usage. Different teas even give different colours to the lines. It is a customs for some connoisseurs to use different Ru ware teacups for different teas to show off their individualised collection.

Note:

This is a handmade item. Each piece does vary slightly in size, shape and the colour and pattern of the glaze.