Seigyoku Kyusu, Japanese Teapot

Seigyoku, meaning sapphire. Chattered marks under a deep blue glaze.

The Seigyoku Kyusu is a Tokoname teapot in a glossy sapphire-blue glaze over a body carved with rows of small chattered marks that catch the light, with bare clay showing at the tip of the spout. A curved stainless mesh covers the spout opening and holds back the leaves as you pour. The inside is left as bare tan clay. The side handle is held in one hand with the thumb resting on the lid, so pouring to the last drop is a turn of the wrist. At 300 ml it is the everyday size, two or three cups from one pour. Its sister pot is the Sekimen Kyusu, the same pot in dusty pink.

Tokoname, in Aichi Prefecture, is Japan's teapot capital and one of its oldest pottery towns, with about 900 years of kiln history. Its iron-rich red clay, shudei, is known for softening tannin, which is why tea people seek out a Tokoname kyusu.

Made in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Volume: 300 ml

Care: empty the leaves after each pot, rinse with hot water only, no detergent, and dry with the lid off.

Please note: shape, colour and capacity vary a little from pot to pot. That is the nature of handmade Japanese ceramics.

Ships Australia-wide and worldwide, with free Australian shipping on orders over $100. See the full range of Japanese teapots, or read how to choose a kyusu if this is your first pot.