Gunmetal Black

A beautiful one-of-a-kind gaiwan crafted by Jingdezhen ceramicist Wang Xinghua. The gaiwan has a stunning gunmetal black glaze that Wang formulated himself.

These pieces are from our latest commission from Wang Xinghua, for which he crafted 20 gaiwans, 10 pitchers and 15 bowls for us in early 2023. In this collection we see Wang being more experimental, with not just glazes but the bodies of the ceramics as well.

Cultivate has been working with Wang for 8 years now, and are particularly excited about this collection for a few reasons. For one, it is the first batch of pieces Wang has sent us that were made in his newly built studio and kiln. Wang spent the last year creating this new place to work out of, and we celebrate its completion with him!

Another reason is that all of the gaiwans are finished with new glazes, markedly different from Wang’s previous collections. All of them seem to express instability, or unsettledness in different ways, making it difficult to take your eyes away from them.

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We have long admired Wang’s ceramics for being rooted in daily life: his adept craftsmanship is dedicated to making something very simple, and a large part of his pottery’s elegance is in how well it functions. This holds true on every level of detail: beyond how the lid and cup might fit perfectly together, into how they sit so comfortably in the hand of the person making tea, or how the wet leaves vividly appear against the matte-white glaze of the vessel.  These pieces are meant to be used every day, for many years, and have an aesthetic warmth to them that indicates this – an inviting quality well suited to vessels, and that we may best describe as “open.”

We have been using Wang’s teaware at our tea bar since Cultivate opened, and our love and appreciation for them has grown profoundly over time. 

** Please note that, as each gaiwan is made by hand and naturally fired, they differ slightly in size, shape, colorations, and tone. The actual item you receive may have slight variations to the one photographed; these variations are an intentional part of this collection. 

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Approximate dimensions
⌀: 94 mm
H: 53 mm without lid
H: 72 mm to top point of lid