Jingdezhen
| Product | Tea jar |
| Origin | Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China |
| Dimensions | Ø8.7cm x 15.1cm |
| Volume | For 400g tea |
| Weight | 1.4kg |
| Material | Porcelain |
| Decoration | 《七碗茶詩》 一碗喉吻潤，兩碗破孤悶。 三碗搜枯腸，唯有文字五千卷。 四碗發輕汗，平生不平事，盡向毛孔散。 五碗肌骨清，六碗通仙靈。 七碗吃不得也，唯覺兩腋習習清風生。 "The Seven Bowls of Tea" |
The birthplace of porcelain, Jingdezhen has been producing the finest Chinese ceramics for over a thousand years and was home to some of China’s most important imperial kilns. Surrounded by breathtaking nature in the northeastern corner of Jiangxi province, the remoteness of the small city has helped preserve age-old traditions that are still in practice to this day. When Europeans first encountered Chinese porcelain back in the 14th century, they concluded that this ethereal yet solid "white gold" could only have been made by magic. The secret? Kaolin: the soft white clay essential to manufacturing porcelain, named after the Gaoling mountain in Jingdezhen where this resource was available in abundance.
Probably the most recognised and enduring of ceramic styles, blue and white pottery, known as Qinghua in Chinese (literally "blue flowers/patterns") was a revolutionary product in 14th century Jingdezhen. Traces of blue and white wares can be found as far back as the Tang dynasty (618-907) but it wasn’t until the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) that potters in Jingdezhen perfected the clay and firing technology, which allowed for the mass production of quality Qinghua. The key ingredient in the vibrant blue hue is cobalt oxide: one of the very few pigments that can withstand the high firing temperatures of porcelain. This remarkably stable pigment was initially imported from Persia and is applied under the glaze before baking. Although blue and white wares came to be produced elsewhere in China — and around the world! — those from Jingdezhen are prized for their unmatched craftsmanship.
