As you may be aware, I’ve been working on a research project on tea the past few years. A paper just came out recently in the edited volume Moral Foods: The Construction of Nutrition and Health in Modern Asia, from the University of Hawaii Press. I have a chapter in there titled “Becoming Healthy: Changing Perception of Tea’s Effects on the Body.” It’s about how our idea of whether tea is healthy or not has shifted over time. Alas, I don’t have a PDF for you to read, but if you have access to a library that has (or will buy) this book, and find it interesting, do take a look.
Yeah whisky prices have been leaking too, as well as luxury watches. I wrote a post maybe a decade ago…
3 responses so far ↓
Matthew // November 25, 2019 at 3:02 pm |
Hi Lawrence,
Congratulations on the publication. Looking forward to reading your chapter.
Warm regards, hot tea
Matthew
Frank // January 9, 2020 at 7:59 pm |
Hi!
I have owned a pomegranate and cicada design pot for about 20 years. It is very “crisp” in it’s lines, almost sharp. I believe it was made by an artist, not mass produced, and I seem to remember the site I bought it from listed about 100 Yixing teapot makers along with their ranks.
I have seen this design copied many times over the years and the one I have is light years above all others in terms of quality. The clay itself seems to have mica flakes, and appears correct in all other ways.
Over the past 20 years I have cared for it superbly. It has only had the highest grade dragon well tea used in it- usually ONLY first flush of spring. after use, spent leaves were squeezed over the entire pot and polished , then put under a bulb in the curio until dry.
Is there any way to value this?
I am not really in the market to sell, but I believe it’s possible that it’s potentially worth a lot of money- but more importantly, I haven’t seen the “correct” version of this pot anywhere else and based on the popularity of this design I would want to be sure that it’s correctly photographed and cataloged for anyone that shares our interest.
Do you have any advice on who to ask? Would you be interested in seeing photos of it? I have not taken any yet but will if you are interested. I treasure it and think that perhaps the fact that it has only ever been used with the absolute best Dragon Well tea adds tremendous interest and value as well. It’s approaching the stage where correct temperature water (about 180 degrees F) produces a cup of tea (albeit weak) without using leaves.
Thanks for posting and maintaining an interesting blog,
Frank
beebot // December 18, 2020 at 4:55 pm |
I found the article illuminating, BTW It’s available online through CC licence here (https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/550421).