Blue and White Chinese Teapots & Tea Ware
青花 is cobalt painted straight onto the raw porcelain, glazed over, and fired once at full heat. The pattern ends up under the glass, which is why six-hundred-year-old pieces still read sharp. It is also the pattern most often imitated with a printed decal.
Not made yet. We do not yet stock blue and white. Everything currently coming off the bench is reactive and crystalline glaze. 青花 is the next pattern going into production, and this is the page it will land on. See what is in stock.
Underglaze, decal, and how to tell them apart
Run a fingernail across the edge of the pattern. Underglaze cobalt is perfectly smooth, because the glaze covers it. A decal sits on top and you can feel a faint step at the edge; under strong light you can usually see the halftone dot grid. Decal ware is cheaper and there is nothing wrong with selling it. It just does not last.
Why the blue varies
Cobalt shifts with the kiln atmosphere and with how thickly the brush was loaded, so one piece runs from near-black in the outline to pale wash in the shading. That gradient is the mark of a brush. Flat, even blue across a whole motif is the mark of a print.
What this will be
- Decoration
- Underglaze cobalt, hand-painted before glazing
- Care
- Confirm for the selected piece and decoration
- Forms
- Teapot, gaiwan, tasting cup, tea caddy
- Variation
- Hand-painted, so brushwork differs piece to piece