Pamela Watkins on thu 22 may 03
Groovy. I drink my green tea from a blessed pot, but not such as described by yours. Let the tea be.
~jaq
mel jacobson wrote:
when in india, i was blessed with a cup
of tea from a very old teapot. never been
washed with soap in its old history.
the man in the shop just poured some hot
water into the teapot, let it sit for a minute
and poured the flavored water into a glass.
aroma, wonder.
no tea leaves in the pot. just hot water
in the history of the pot. it taught
me a lesson about tea. and, of course,
about teapots. let them get the history
of the tea, over many years.
tannic acid build up.
in america, we want to brillo out a teapot, have a
thick glaze inside so that we can fill it
with soap, ammonia, bleach, hot water.
murder the aroma.
i make the openings of my teapots small, then
the human hand cannot get in there, easily.
slow down the murder.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.TICK-ATTACK.COM
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Megan Ratchford on thu 22 may 03
My friend's mom is British, a big tea drinker, if you go to her house you
have a nice stiff cup of tea out of an ancient teapot black from use inside.
I was real nervous about showing her my teapots but my friend took one over
to show her. "Hmmm, a bit heavy..." she pulled my very small lid and
smiled, "Well, at least she has the size of the lid right, no one would be
able to scrub the inside, good job!"
Thanks Mel!! I get endless grief about how small my teapot openings
are!!
Megan Ratchford
Denver, Colorado
mel jacobson on thu 22 may 03
when in india, i was blessed with a cup
of tea from a very old teapot. never been
washed with soap in its old history.
the man in the shop just poured some hot
water into the teapot, let it sit for a minute
and poured the flavored water into a glass.
aroma, wonder.
no tea leaves in the pot. just hot water
in the history of the pot. it taught
me a lesson about tea. and, of course,
about teapots. let them get the history
of the tea, over many years.
tannic acid build up.
in america, we want to brillo out a teapot, have a
thick glaze inside so that we can fill it
with soap, ammonia, bleach, hot water.
murder the aroma.
i make the openings of my teapots small, then
the human hand cannot get in there, easily.
slow down the murder.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.TICK-ATTACK.COM
David Hendley on thu 22 may 03
Same thing for cast iron cookware. Soap never touches my griddle,
and it just gets better and better.
Sometimes you need to cook up some bacon, to keep the surface
just right. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
Likewise, although I really try to formulate glazes that won't craze, for my
own personal pottery I like to use a glaze that will develop a nice stained
crazing pattern after years of use.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> when in india, i was blessed with a cup
> of tea from a very old teapot. never been
> washed with soap in its old history.
Paul Herman on thu 22 may 03
Hello Mel,
But you didn't tell us, do you glaze the inside of your teapots??
I do.
Best wishes,
Paul Herman
Great Basin Pottery
423-725 Scott Road
Doyle, California 96109 US
potter@psln.com
----------
>From: mel jacobson
> i make the openings of my teapots small, then
> the human hand cannot get in there, easily.
> slow down the murder.
> mel
Ned Ludd on fri 23 may 03
Megan Ratchford wrote
>My friend's mom is British, a big tea drinker, if you go to her house you
>have a nice stiff cup of tea out of an ancient teapot black from use inside.
>I was real nervous about showing her my teapots but my friend took one over
>to show her. "Hmmm, a bit heavy..." she pulled my very small lid and
>smiled, "Well, at least she has the size of the lid right, no one would be
>able to scrub the inside, good job!"
> Thanks Mel!! I get endless grief about how small my teapot openings
>are!!
>Megan Ratchford
>Denver, Colorado
Folks
Hey, hang on there! Megan, I fear for your virtue!
Please do NOT be seduced by the temptation to make your teapot lid
opening too small. Just because, thanks to a dubious hint from the
Mayor, you decide to let interesting fungi thrive in the old
tea-rinsings rather than clean it is no justification for taking the
easy way out! Mel, I fear you are encouraging shilly-shallying in
your flock! For shame!
The Way of the Teapot, British-style, is long and hard and many are
called but few are chosen. A common sight with otherwise well
made teapots is the too-small lid opening. I've noticed this to be
more usual with teapots that look to the Orient for their heritage,
but in truth it is an error that spreads all ways.
Principle Numero Uno in design is: DON'T OBSTRUCT THE USER.
Teapot openings that are too small require us to fuss more, putting
tea in the pot, and worse, when it comes to getting the dregs out
with a good rinse (no soap, I agree) we have to go to more trouble to
rinse repeatedly, before the old tea leaves are out. Especially when
we have strainer holes at the base of our spouts.
Making a good looking functional teapot is difficult - with all the
parts that come together it is like arranging an orchestra - but one
with a larger-sized opening is in fact even harder to pull off well,
aesthetically. We see the temptation to take the easy way out by
opting for a smaller lid, at the cost of user-friendliness. However,
the easy way out is a cheat. It is a design demerit. Think about it.
Even if our dear Mayor likes to keep primitive lifeforms floating
around permanently in his pot we should allow the user the
option of easy rinsing.
I remember a one-quart Michael Leach teapot I used for many years.
Its opening was a good four and a half inches. Tea-filling, brewing
and rinsing was a snap. My own teapots are wide enough to allow half
of my flat hand to go in the pot. It happens to be just big enough to
allow the use of a larger teaball, sufficient to hold about three
heaped teaspoons of tea. I do not use teaballs to brew my tea, but I
like knowing that my customer won't be thwarted if he wants to use
one with a teapot of mine.
There should be something GENEROUS about a good teapot. I think that
most potters would agree that generosity is certainly not a quality
expressed by small openings.
best,
Ned
"I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to
make something beautiful, and that all beautiful things are made by
those who strive to make something useful." - Oscar Wilde
Megan Ratchford on fri 23 may 03
Hey Ned!
Whoa there! I can reach in and scoop out the tea leaves but a man
couldn't. Maybe I'm sexist? LOL :)
I guess I should also say that my teapots are also rather "stout" in
stature rather than being tall and elegant. Easier to reach the bottom that
way!
Megan
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