Some of the most serious objects and implements can be translated into gleeful-squeal-inducing cuteness when fake and miniaturized. And what could possibly be more charming and clever than tiny Chinese and Japanese tea ceremony sets? The only thing that would make these better would be if they were reproduced in traditionally accurate materials – clay, fabric, metal and wood. As great as that would be, it would render them prohibitively expensive, of course.
In my opinion, anyone seriously devoted to the art of the Chinese gongfu tea ceremony should own one of these:
Anyone who recognizes the beauty of the highly formalized Japanese chanoyu ritual should be able to appreciate how wonderful this one is:
The eBay store from which I purchased the two miniature sets above, Daipatmeow Store, also has a sencha ceremony set (below), which I have so far been able to resist. It is missing a couple of the implements and the food items that are part of the traditional sencha ritual, but it’s a great little mini sencha tea set in any case.
In an ideal world I would have the time and resources to devote to pet projects like building miniature, highly detailed and accurate teahouses. I don’t think that I would actually serve tea to mice, but that would always be an option. Dormice, due to their legendary inattention during tea parties, would not be invited. I’m not quite sure of the scale of these sets, but I am pretty sure that they are approximately 1/6 scale, which would make them compatible with a number of really gorgeous and expensive Asian ball-jointed dolls, which is an interesting thing to imagine.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Chado: The Way of Tea, at ArtXchange
- How I generally brew shu pu’er
- Da Hong Pao among the mists
- New storage for pu’er
- The art of tea art: Infusions at SLAB Art
Oh, delightful! Of course, my first impression of gongfu sets was the impression that they already were miniatures.
But these are just the cutest! When you get yours, you should post a photo with a coin so we can see scale.
[Reply]
Left by Colleen on March 20th, 2008
I have the gongfu one already and I was tempted to try to photograph it with a real mouse, but I wasn’t sure I could get a mouse to pose the way I wanted even if I bribed it with peanut butter on a tea cup.
[Reply]
Left by Cinnabar on March 20th, 2008
Wow! These are really cool. I really like the Japanese set.
I like miniture sets and have a couple on display in my home. Seems like everytime someone comes over they always ask, “is this usable?”, or “how can you drink out of these?”.
Great blog, BTW!
~Amadeus
[Reply]
Left by Amadeus on March 21st, 2008
I think you’d need tweezers and a microscope (and cold water)!
Thank you!
[Reply]
Left by Cinnabar on March 21st, 2008
Good day Cinnabar,
I love the sencha teapot/cups!!!!
I would love to purchase that set…..where did you buy?
[Reply]
Left by TRENA on March 25th, 2008