Etched Bronze Teapot

Tea drinking has been an integral part of Chinese culture for centuries, resulting in a wide range of social customs and material traditions. In addition to tea leaves, water, and heat, the art of drinking tea (chayi) calls for a variety of teaware and utensils - both practical and decorative.

This bronze tea pot has a rounded, squat form etched on all sides with painterly scenes and decorative scrollwork. On one side of the teapot is a laughing young boy shown beside an idiom for continual wealth and prosperity. On the opposite side are two boys playing flute for a shrine beset with the Three Abundances, the peach, the pomegranate, and the Buddha's hand citron. These three fruits are common offerings and convey blessings of longevity, good fortune, and a large family.

A ring of bats borders the neck of the teapot, furthering the blessings of happiness and good fortune. The pot is surmounted by two arched handles sculpted to resemble braided rope and a domed lid etched with chrysanthemums and bats, topped by a knob shaped like a mythical fu dog protector.