Teapot and Drinking Vessel Design Approach Nature from the East and West part 2

When considering the profound artistic explication of nature in Eastern tea ware and interrelated literati drinking vessels, one can find much to inspire animated discussion, deft philosophical musing, and deep appreciation of craft and intent in Tea, Wine and Poetry: Qing Dynasty Literati And Their Drinking Vessels, a singular exhibition at China Institute Gallery in New York City, on view from March 24 through June 16, 2007. In this compact, imaginatively curated collection with a broad reach, nearly fifty objects flesh out the abstract spirituality of tea culture, a long vanished world of contemplation and tremulous elegance. Akin to discovering a spectacular iridescent beetle under a plain stone, the ancient Chinese aesthetic exemplified the encapsulation and refinement of organic forms. Diminutive twin fish, expertly engraved, swim inside the bottom of a pewter Wine Cup by Zhu Jian (active early 19th c.), its mouth the silvered edge of a still pond and white jade handle suggestive of a crescent moon illuminating this precious microcosm .