Verdant Tea

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern, organic sensibility to traditional forms. This taller "Bao Zun" teapot is a perfect example of her hand crafted work. The lovely Da Hong Pao Ni clay will age beautifully with almost any kind of tea, gaining more depth and luster over years of brewing.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern, organic sensibility to traditional forms. This "Si Ting" teapot is a perfect example of her hand crafted work. This versatile and deep red Da Hong Pao Ni clay ages beautifully with any kind of tea, gaining more depth and luster over years of brewing.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built Sheng Tiao form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built Shi Piao form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built Sheng Tao form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Much of Lai Xiaohong’s career has been a meditation on the various shapes inspired by the moon. This qing duan clay ban yue or “half moon” teapot is one of her oldest most classic forms, perfectly balanced with graceful sweeping lines and a perfectly integrated spout. Lai Xiaohong hand-crafted this teapot for a lifetime of use, selecting a clay that will continue to grow more and more lustrous over each brewing session.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong’s beautiful Yu Zi Ni brings vivid color and deep speckling to this classic Qing Xiang form through a careful blend of her personally-excavated Zi Ni and Zhu Ni clays. The "Qing Xiang" form allows the intensity of color and mottling in the unique Yu Zi Ni to shine. Lai Xiaohong crafted this teapot for a lifetime of use, selecting and hand-blending a clay that will continue to grow more and more lustrous over each brewing session.

Much of Lai Xiaohong’s career has been a meditation on the various shapes inspired by the moon. This di cao qing clay ban yue or “half moon” teapot is one of her oldest most classic forms, perfectly balanced with graceful sweeping lines and a perfectly integrated spout. Lai Xiaohong hand-crafted this teapot for a lifetime of use, selecting a clay that will continue to grow more and more lustrous over each brewing session.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern, organic sensibility to traditional forms. This "Ju Lun" form teapot is a perfect example of her hand crafted work. This uniquely speckled chen pi clay will age beautifully with almost any kind of tea, gaining more depth and luster over years of brewing.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. A variation on a classic "egg" form, this meticulously hand-built Wen Dan pot shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern, organic sensibility to traditional forms. This "Jing Lan" form teapot is a classic example of her hand crafted work. This uniquely speckled chen pi clay of this small format pot will age beautifully with almost any kind of tea, gaining more depth and luster over years of brewing.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built "Bian Yu" form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern, organic sensibility to traditional forms. This traditional Run Yi teapot is a perfect example of her hand crafted work. The uniquely mottled Yu Zi Ni clay will age beautifully with almost any kind of tea, gaining more depth and luster over years of brewing.

The long dan or Dragon's Egg is a graceful form that unites the pot lid and body in a perfect arc and shows off the clay at every angle of light. This lovely long dan benefits from Lai Xiaohong's  special mix of Zhu Ni and Zi Ni clay (called Yu Zi Ni), yielding a spectacularly mottled result that will grow even deeper over time.

While Lai Xiaohong often draws on classic forms, this piece feels uniquely modern with a clean, bold geometry whose balance speaks for itself. The sweeping faces of the pot show off the lovely Di Cao Qing clay that will become even deeper over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built "You Xiang" form features a carved bird perched on a lotus. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-build He Mei form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay has been carefully swirled with golden Duan Ni for an incredible fluid effect, and is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-build "Stone Dipper" Shi Piao form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art, with the lid topper invoking a water-worn stone. The warm Di Cao Qing clay has been carefully swirled with golden Duan Ni for an incredible fluid effect like ripples in a stream, and is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

This gorgeous shi piao was hand built by Lai Xiaohong using a coarse zhu ni clay that grows deeper and more lustrous over a lifetime of use. The traditional shi piao form is one of our favorites for the simple but strong geometry of the triangle repeated in each element of the pot. The inscription reads 君子之交清茶淡水, which speaks to the elegance and refinement when pure clean tea comes together with pure clean water without any other trappings or adornment. The confident simplicity of this teapot fulfills the poetry of the inscription and inspires contemplation on the simple joy of tea ritual.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built "Xin Yuan" form features a delicate bird preches on a blossoming spring branch. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth, luster and contrast over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong brings together fine clay and a modern sensibility to traditional forms. This meticulously hand-built "Si Yuan" form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Da Hong Pao Ni clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

Award-winning artist Lai Xiaohong is famous for her hand-excavated and blended Di Cao Qing clay, a rich, dense and mottled clay that Lai Xiahong blends from minerals settled in her trough after months of careful aging. This meticulously hand-built He Mei form shows off Lai Xiaohong’s traditional grounding and her modern fluid sensibility in her art. The warm Di Cao Qing clay is ready to take on more depth and luster over a lifetime of use.

This stunning Qing Duan Ni teapot is part of Lai Xiaohong’s award-winning masterwork series combining the strength and elegance of classic form seamlessly with natural detail. The craft and time required to form a pot that transitions so perfectly between stark and clean abstraction to elegant touches of bamboo tests Lai Xiaohong’s skill and demands many dozens more hours of work to execute with her level of effortlessness.  Qiu Lin or “Contemplating Autumn” is a bold and striking study of the shapes a tree can form, the ripple and channels in the bark, the burls that tell the tree’s story. Lai Xiaohong carves these deep channels in meticulous detail to show off the beauty of trees sweeping twisting shapes in the autumn as leaves begin to fall. The gnarled lid handle and spout show off the age and history of the tree this pot is a tribute to.

This stunning Huang Jin Duan Ni teapot is part of Lai Xiaohong’s award-winning masterwork series combining the strength and elegance of classic form seamlessly with natural detail. The craft and time required to form a pot that transitions so perfectly between stark and clean abstraction to elegant touches of bamboo tests Lai Xiaohong’s skill and demands many dozens more hours of work to execute with her level of effortlessness. Qiu Fu, or the “Allure of Autumn” evokes the deeply meaningful concept of Yun (韵）used in tea, music and dance to describe a sensation that lingers with you, reverberates and transforms on itself long after the experience of art has passed. This piece evokes the reverberation of a gnarled tree branch viewed as a reflection in a still pond lit by moonlight. As a light breeze sweeps across the pond it creates ripples, reverberations, and transforms the still life into a dynamic and moving piece full of energy. Lai Xiaohong captures the poetry of this scene in clay.

This stunning Huang Jin Duan Ni teapot is part of Lai Xiaohong’s award-winning masterwork series combining the strength and elegance of classic form seamlessly with natural detail. The craft and time required to form a pot that transitions so perfectly between stark and clean abstraction to elegant touches of bamboo tests Lai Xiaohong’s skill and demands many dozens more hours of work to execute with her level of effortlessness.  Yi Fan Feng Shun or “Smooth Sailing,” is unique in the forest series in the way it captures the motion of wind and water moving through a deep forest space, the way wind makes leaves ripple in harmony with each other, the way water moves across stone in hidden forest streams. Indeed the lid handle almost evokes a leaf caught and bent in the wind as it is carried away. This feeling of being transported effortlessly complements the joy of brewing gongfu tea as an afternoon flows by.

This stunning Huang Jin Duan Ni teapot is part of Lai Xiaohong’s award-winning masterwork series combining the strength and elegance of classic form seamlessly with natural detail. The craft and time required to form a pot that transitions so perfectly between clean abstraction to warm fluid natural touches tests Lai Xiaohong’s skill and demands many dozens more hours of work to execute with her level of effortlessness. This stunningly light and