Flagstaff Houses Tea Ware Museum in Hong Kong

It is amazing the number of people who automatically connect tea with the English.  Presumably because they introduced Afternoon Tea to the West.  Of course, a little thought tells us that tea comes mostly either from India or China.

The Museum of Tea Ware in the Victorian Flagstaff House - a World Heritage Site - has a fine collection of Chinese tea ware.  It is a FREE museum in Hong Kong Park and has exhibits ranging from the Yongle (early 15^th century), the Qing Dynasty (17^th century) and, the museum’s speciality, Yixing (post Qing). 

Built in the mid-nineteenth century, Flagstaff House was the home of the Commander of the British Forces.  One of the oldest surviving Colonial-style buildings in Hong Kong, it is a large white two-storey four-square edifice surrounded by pillars supporting a balcony around the upper storey.  A grand piece of Victoriana.

The museum’s historic collection of tea utensils are in porcelain, earthenware and even gold, including a “monk’s cap” ewer of the Yongle period.  The name is derived from its shape – that of the caps worn by Tibetan monks. 

Yongle began as white ceramic – nicknamed “sweet white ware” (thought to be because of a resemblance to sugar) – with a tracing, usually of floral scrolls.  Sometimes they were also gilded. 

Later Yongle was produced in red and blue.  For example, a white dragon on a red background or red sea monsters on an underglaze of blue waves.

Other items on display include a pewter tea set with a decoration of dragons, flowers and shou characters; a set of 12 plates in the famille-vert style representing Flowers of the Month; and a beautiful large red clay teapot with a pierced bamboo motif.

During the Qing Dynasty the earlier blue and white pottery evolved into several shades of blue, through the famille-vert and eventually broke into multi-colours.  The designs became far more elaborate, using landscapes and illustrating stories such as the “Romance of Three Kingdoms” and “The West Chamber”.

Amid all the beautifully elaborate pottery in the display cases is a Persimmon teapot.  This was made in the 8^th  to 10^th centuries and is shaped like a persimmon – brownish, round, with a lid, small handle and a spout.  The original of the Brown Betty teapot.

I only went into Flagstaff House to get out of the heat and ended up spending a fascinating time tracing the history of the teapot!