Teaware Collections

Interested in teapots? Here's a quick (and completely incomplete) listing of teaware collections I've stumbled upon in the last few months. Enjoy! If you would like to add any, please leave a comment with a link. Thanks!

Sadly, the much-anticipated Sparta Teapot Museum still has not opened... However, many pieces from their collection have been shown at my hometown's own Mint Museum of Art and Mint Museum of Craft + Design. (There's a strong tradition of pottery in North Carolina, due in large part to the huge deposits of red clay in the Piedmont region, where I was born.) A few previous exhibitions:

Made in China
With a Grain of Salt (salt-glazed pottery of England and North Carolina)
and, my personal favorite...
The Artful Teapot

Yi Xing teaware and other ceramics by Ms. Rong Jiang, who recently passed away

Tea With Friends blog on tea caddies

A recent show of teapots in San Francisco

The Rosemary's Sampler blog's teacup collection

Oolong, the rabbit

I'm doing research on Oolong tea for a new article. I happened upon Oolong, the rabbit. He just had to be the topic of my next internet oddity post.

Apparently, Oolong was very famous; he was even in the New York Times. He was a domestic rabbit in Hokkaido, Japan and was known for balancing things on his head. Most of the things he is shown balancing on his owner's site are foods, but I found this image of him balancing a teacup. And, if you don't mind scrolling a bit, look for "Oolong's Postcards series 2" on this page and check out the Yi Xing teapot in "pear skin" (deep purple-brown) on Oolong's head.

Tiny Tea Cozy

Here's something cute to counter the whole "Friday the 13th" thing.

I love crafts. (Well, SOME crafts. I think others are remarkably tacky and bad.) Occasionally, I'll surf crafts sites to see what's going on with the Stitch 'n Bitch revolution. Here's a little something I found that involves crafts AND tea. Fun. (Now if they would only make them for Yi Xing pots . . .)