Thursday, November 22, 2012

Tea Pets ~



Who would have thought?  .  I was fascinated with the idea and would like to introduce you to the two that have taken up residence here….Sir Lancelot and Miss Piggy. 

These are made of Yixing clay in China.  They need to have hot tea poured over them now and then which results in a change color over time.  Sir Lancelot sprays a stream of tea about two to three feet.    

Tea Pets are a fun and interesting addition to any Tea Set. They are small works of art which are normally placed on a tea tray during the Tea Session and tea is poured over them. In China it is thought that having a particular shape will bring you luck, money, or many children. There are many different subjects for Tea Pets and many people have a large collection of them and choose a particular pet for each Tea Session. 

I wanted to include the Tide Pools at Dana Point for your virtual visit to The OC and I thought it would be fun to take Sir Lancelot and Miss Piggy along to see some marine life.

It was nearly low tide so we saw some beautiful things.  Check the collage for the large orange California Starfish and the lovely lavender Sea Anemone. 


Today the tea pets are keeping company with the Little Plum Pot which is steeping leaves from the Alishan area of Taiwan which is famous for its high mountain oolongs.  Don’t miss Sir Lancelot’s greeting of a spray.


 
Fannie May Trinidad Chocolate 

 “Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” ~ George Elliot

5 comments:

Steph said...

So much fun!!! I love their names and their adventures along with the teapot.

Marilyn Miller said...

What fun adventures this little plum teapot has been on with you. Tide pools are another delight and beautiful photos. Your tea pets are so fun too. I saw a little boy tea decoration for the tray and now I wish I had purchased it. Maybe the next time I see him. I do have a turtle for my tea trays. Love seeing your pets.

amherstrose said...

Thank you for sharing your tea pets, Martha. The Traveling Teapot has been lucky to visit such interesting places with you. I am thinking you have had a lot of fun while showing us all of the fascinating places in your world.

My tea pet is a little clay bird that will tweet a sweet song when soaked in water or tea. I bought it from a little old man selling them outside the Forbidden City during my trip to China.

Time Traveling in Costume said...

Ha ha! And here I'm thinking you were bringing stuffed animals or something with you.
Val

La Tea Dah said...

I think a tea pet is a wonderful idea! I have not come across them before, but I will be on the look out now! They look so cute on a tea tray!