Lot Essay
The poem may be found on a small number of Jiaqing-period teapots and tea-trays, as it praises well-prepared tea. S.W. Bushell translates the poem in Oriental Ceramic Art (London, 1981 (1896), p. 239) as:
'Finest tribute tea of the first picking
And a bright full moon prompt a line of verse.
A lively fire glows in the bamboo stove,
The water is boiling in the stone griddle,
Small bubbles rise like ears of fish or crab.
Of rare Ch'i-ch'iang tea, rolled in tiny balls,
One cup is enough to lighten the heart,
And dissipate the early winter chill.'
Two similar lime-green-ground teapots inscribed with the same poem are known: one from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, Taiwan, 1991, p. 216; and the other was sold at Sotheby's London, 6 December 1994, lot 212. Compare also a coral-ground teapot with the same poem, sold at Sotheby's London, 20 June 2001, lot 39; and a blue and white version sold Christie's London, 1 May 1995, lot 749. Liu also illustrates a lime-ground quatrefoil tray inscribed with the poem, ibid., p. 256.
'Finest tribute tea of the first picking
And a bright full moon prompt a line of verse.
A lively fire glows in the bamboo stove,
The water is boiling in the stone griddle,
Small bubbles rise like ears of fish or crab.
Of rare Ch'i-ch'iang tea, rolled in tiny balls,
One cup is enough to lighten the heart,
And dissipate the early winter chill.'
Two similar lime-green-ground teapots inscribed with the same poem are known: one from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, Taiwan, 1991, p. 216; and the other was sold at Sotheby's London, 6 December 1994, lot 212. Compare also a coral-ground teapot with the same poem, sold at Sotheby's London, 20 June 2001, lot 39; and a blue and white version sold Christie's London, 1 May 1995, lot 749. Liu also illustrates a lime-ground quatrefoil tray inscribed with the poem, ibid., p. 256.