Jingdezhen Porcelain Tea Ware

Porcelain is thinner and denser than stoneware, so less of the heat goes into the wall and more of it stays in the water. For a gaiwan that means you can hold the rim through a fast infusion. For a tasting cup it means the liquor colour reads true against white instead of being tinted by the clay.

Hold it to a light: a properly fired body glows through at the rim, evenly rather than in patches. Tap it. Porcelain rings, stoneware thuds. Look inside the foot ring where the glaze stops, and the bare body should be white and fine-grained rather than grey or sandy. None of that takes expertise, and heavy stoneware sold as porcelain fails all three. What the tests cannot tell you is the city — good porcelain is fired in several — so for origin you are taking the seller at their word, and it is fair to ask them to say it plainly.

Look at the form, glaze, capacity and provenance of the actual gaiwan or tasting cup. A style associated with Jingdezhen does not prove where a particular piece was made. We can confirm the production partner and origin for a piece before you order, and discuss whether its finish can be repeated for a custom batch.