Something’s brewing: stylish tea sets that blend east and west
英国设计的陶艺茶具
陶器泡茶的优点被英国设计师重视，他们开始用陶和釉融合西方设计出品茶具，并希望延伸到中国和日本市场。
At next week’s Salone del Mobile design festival in Milan, British-based designer Christopher Jenner will launch Yixing, a new tea set made using purple Zisha clay from Jiangsu Province in eastern China. “The material was the thing that attracted my attention,“ recalls Jenner of his trip to the area three years ago. “The clay, which can be traced back to the North Song Dynasty, is renowned as being the best material for brewing tea.“ It has the ability to retain heat and is porous when fired, so that, over time, the flavours are absorbed into the material and released, making each brew taste richer.
在不久前的米兰国际家具展览会(Salone del Mobile Milano)上，英国设计师克里斯多夫•詹纳(Christopher Jenner)将推出一套名为“宜兴“(Yixing)的全新茶具套件，由产自中国东部江苏省的紫色紫砂泥制成。“这种材质当时就吸引了我的注意。“詹纳在回忆自己三年前赴江苏地区的旅行时说。“紫砂泥——其历史可以上溯到北宋时期——被誉为最适合泡茶的材质。它能够保温，在火上加热后又具有渗透性，因此随着多次使用，茶叶的味道被吸入了紫砂材质当中又被再次释放出来，使得每一泡茶的风味更加丰富。
It is not the first time Jenner has designed a tea set: he recently teamed up with English silversmiths Elkington & Co (now relaunched as E&Co) on a collection of silver and brassware based on classic techniques such as spinning, hammering and polishing. “As with a lot of my work, I was interested in how to take the traditional and turn it into something contemporary,“ he says. The results are a minimalist silver teapot, sugar bowl, milk jug and tea strainer that each eschew any form of decoration.
这并不是詹纳第一次设计茶具：他不久前曾与英国银器生产商Elkington & Co（现改名为E&Co）合作生产了一系列银质和黄铜茶具，采用了旋转、捶打、抛光等传统技艺。詹纳表示：“我对于如何继承传统并将其转化成具有现代感的东西感兴趣，这在我的很多作品中都有体现。“这种观念催生出了极简主义的银质茶壶、糖罐、牛奶壶以及滤茶器，每一款都回避了任何形式的装饰。
Jenner is one of many designers looking at teaware in a new way, taking older tea traditions from other parts of the world and making them relevant for Britain, a nation renowned for its tea-drinking habits.
詹纳是很多设计师中的一员，他们将茶具视为一种新途径，以借鉴世界其他地方更加古老的饮茶传统，并使这些传统与英国这样一个以饮茶习惯而著称的国家发生联系。
European brands are also going direct to Japanese designers. Architect Kengo Kuma has created a limited edition of 11 handmade Kusa tea sets entirely in silver, priced at £60,500 each, for Danish brand Georg Jensen. The set consists of a teapot, spoon, cup and tray, plus a bamboo stirrer; the teapot and cup layer a black oxidised base with latticework on the outside, while the tray is hammered silver.
欧洲品牌也开始直接向日本设计师发出邀请。日本建筑师隈研吾(Kengo Kuma)就曾为丹麦品牌乔治•杰生（Georg Jensen）创作了一个限量版系列，由11件手工制作的纯银抹茶茶具组成，单套售价高达60,500英镑。这套茶具包括一个茶壶、茶杓、茶杯以及茶盘，外加一个竹制茶筅；茶壶以及茶杯表面底层为黑色氧化银，上方覆盖银质交叉网格，茶盘则为用捶打工艺制成的银器。
New brand 2016/, which is collaboratively overseen by Japanese designer Teruhiro Yanagihara and Dutch design pair Scholten & Baijings, shines the spotlight on the Arita-yaki porcelain which has been produced in the Japanese town of Arita, on Kyushu island, for the past four centuries. Highly esteemed during the 17th and 18th centuries when Arita-yaki was sought after by Europeans and imported by the Dutch East India Company, today many of the potteries have closed. Several of those that are left have teamed up with 16 international designers to produce new collections of contemporary porcelain.
由日本设计师柳原照弘(Teruhiro Yanagihara)与荷兰设计组合斯霍尔滕与拜恩斯设计团队(Scholten & Baijings)担任联合监督的新品牌将视线的焦点投向了有田烧(Arita-yaki)瓷器，过去四百年来这种瓷器一直是日本九州岛(Kyushu)有田町的特产。有田烧在十七和十八世纪时曾享有盛誉，欧洲人对其趋之若鹜，荷兰东印度公司(Dutch East India Company)也曾进口这种瓷器。如今，很多生产有田烧的瓷器坊都已关闭。存活下来的瓷器坊中有数家已与16位国际设计师结成合作关系，生产新的现代瓷器系列。
For instance, Dutch duo Wieki Somers and Dylan van den Berg of Studio Wieki Somers, paired up with the Koransha pottery. “In 2014, we visited almost all the factories involved in the Arita 2016 project,“ says Somers, whose designs for two tea sets were inspired by the pottery’s traditional metal-wire stencils that are used to create sprayed motifs. “Koransha does the entire production process in-house, combining crafts like hand-painting with advanced technology such as 3D printing.“ The resulting “Koransha blue“ glazed tea sets interpret the ancient stencil technique in a more abstract way with decorative spherical, moon-like shapes.
例如，维奇•萨默斯工作室的荷兰设计师双人组维奇•萨默斯(Wieki Somers)和迪兰•范登伯格(Dylan van den Berg)就与瓷器坊香兰社结成了合作伙伴。“2014年，我们访问了几乎所有参与2016年有田烧项目的瓷器坊。“萨默斯表示，她的两个茶具套件的设计受到了瓷器坊用于制作喷涂图案的传统金属拉丝图案模板的启发。“香兰社的整个生产过程都在内部完成，将手工图案绘制等手工艺与3D打印等先进技术结合在一起。“由此诞生的“香兰社蓝“釉面茶具通过球形、形似月亮的装饰性轮廓将古老的图案模板技术用一种更加抽象的方式阐释出来。
Aside from the introduction of technology to the making process, the traditional Japanese tea pot is also changing in size. Sharon Jo-Yun Hung, co-founder of Native & Co, a shop in west London specialising in homeware from Japan and Taiwan, says this is due to an increase in designers focusing not just on the Japanese market but on the western one too. “In Japan, teapots have always been designed for green tea, which is brewed in a small amount but in the west teas like Earl Grey, are brewed in bigger volumes.“
除了将新科技引入生产过程之外，传统日本茶壶的大小也在发生变化。Native & Co联合创始人洪若筠(Sharon Jo-Yun Hung)表示，这是因为越来越多的设计师不仅重视日本市场、同时也关注西方市场。Native & Co是伦敦西区一家专营来自日本和台湾家居用品的商店。洪若筠说：“在日本，茶壶都是为绿茶而设计的，泡一壶绿茶需要的茶叶数量较少，但泡一壶伯爵茶(Earl Grey)等西方茶所需的茶叶量则较大。“
She cites two tea ranges sold in her shop as examples of this: the Hasami porcelain teapot (actually a blend of porcelain and clay), whose shape is based on jubako stacking containers used for storing food, and the stoneware ceramic teapot, which is finished by hand with a clear glaze. “The stoneware range is based on western ways of tea-drinking, so the cups have been given handles, but it keeps the Japanese wabi-sabi element of accepting the beauty of imperfections caused by drips from the hand glazing.“
她举了自己店中出售的两类茶壶作为例子：波佐见烧(Hasami)瓷质茶壶（其材质实为瓷土和陶土的一种混合物），其形状借鉴了用于盛放食物的重箱叠盒；以及粗陶茶壶，其外表用手工包裹涂了一层清釉。“粗陶类茶壶是基于西方的饮茶习惯，因此茶杯都带有把手，但它保留了日本的侘寂(Wabi-sabi)元素，接受手工上釉的釉滴所带来的不圆满之美。“
For London Craft Week in May, Native & Co is working with the Taiwan Ministry of Culture to host tea-tasting sessions that pair five oolong teas with five local clays to show how the flavours can be enhanced through brewing. “Matching the tea with the correct clay can purify the taste and add smoothness,“ says Hung.
5月的伦敦工艺周(London Craft Week)，Native & Co与台湾文化部(Taiwan Ministry of Culture)展开合作，举办了一系列品茶活动，将5种乌龙茶和5种台湾本地的陶器搭配在一起，以展示泡茶方式能够如何增进茶的风味。洪若筠称：“将茶叶和正确的陶器结合在一起，能使茶的风味更加纯净，口感更加顺滑。“
Other tea-tasting demonstrations taking place during Craft Week include a Japanese tea ceremony at Chelsea College of Arts in conjunction with the Japan Society and architect Shinichiro Hashiguchi, who has built a small tea ceremony room using the woven fabric that is typically used for sliding doors.
伦敦工艺周期间举行的其他品茶活动包括在切尔西艺术与设计学院(Chelsea College of Arts)与日本文化协会(Japan Society)以及日本建筑师桥口健(Shinichiro Hashiguchi)联合举办的日本茶道活动，桥口健使用通常用于滑动门的织物材料建造了一座小型茶道室。
Heidi Potter, chief executive of the Japan Society, will be talking guests through the ceremony. “The great 16th-century master Sen no Rikyu codified the Japanese tea ceremony and created the idea of a level playing field. A tea room has two entrances: one for the person preparing the tea, the other for the guest who has to leave their accoutrements outside, so that they participate free of worldly add-ons,“ she says. “There are different types of ceremony but in its simplest form the tea is prepared and served up in silence as the guests admire the utensils and bowls.“
英国日本文化协会的首席执行官海蒂•波特(Heidi Potter)将和宾客一起体验茶道仪式的全过程。她表示：“十六世纪的茶道大师千利休(Sen no Rikyu)确定了日本茶道仪式的仪轨，并创立了“公平游戏场“的观念。茶室有两个入口，一个入口供准备茶道仪式的人出入，宾客从另一个入口进入，他们必须将外套配件等物留在茶室之外，以便能不受世俗干扰地感受茶道仪式。茶道仪式有不同类型，但按照最精简的一种模式，茶在静默中烹制并奉上，与此同时宾客们则欣赏茶道用具和茶碗之美。“
Furniture maker Hugh Miller pays homage to Japanese ceremonies in his new collection, “Coffee Ceremony“. The design stems from two months spent meeting woodworkers in Japan in 2015. “There are ceremonies to everyday life in Japan,“ Miller says. “For example, if you go to a sento, a public bath house, there’s a place for getting undressed and a place for storing your clothes, so there’s a specific order to everything. When I got back I realised that the way I make my coffee — using a cone filter, grinding the Colombian beans, heating my milk on the stove — has a similar order to it.“
家具生产商休•米勒(Hugh Miller)在他最新的家具系列“咖啡仪式“中向日本的茶道仪式致敬。该系列的设计灵感来源于2015年他在日本与木工艺家打交道的两个月经历。米勒说：“日本的日常生活充满仪式感。例如，如果你去一家公共浴室，那里会有一个让你脱衣的地方，还会有一个让你存放自己衣物的地方，因此做每件事都有特定的顺序。当我从日本回来后，我意识到我为自己煮咖啡的方式——使用一张圆锥形的咖啡滤纸、研磨哥伦比亚咖啡豆、在炉子上加热牛奶——也包含了类似的次序。“
The collection includes utensils such as a milk whisk and coffee scoop, as well as an elm coffee table and a cart, featuring bamboo weaving by Takehiko Sagawa and ceramics by Saiko Fukuoka.
“咖啡仪式“包含了一个牛奶搅拌器和咖啡勺等器具，此外还包括一张榆木咖啡桌和一个小推车，由佐川岳彦(Takehiko Sagawa)编制的竹器和由福冈彩子(Saiko Fukuoka)制作的陶器为其中的亮点。
Rituals are also celebrated at Selfridges, which has a tea-themed window as part of the London store’s new campaign “Our House“. The showpiece is “Bon Voyage“, a limited-edition 2014 glass samovar by Mariage Frères with special engraving to commemorate the brand’s 160th anniversary (there were only 10 in the series; this is the last one available for sale). Traditionally found in Russia, the top part is a tea pot that can be used independently from the main body, where larger quantities of tea are often kept warm by a burner. Alongside the samovar, Selfridges has other teaware, such as “The Accidental Expressionist“, a Pollock-style splattered set made for 1882 Ltd by Martyn Thompson.
仪式感这一主题也得到了零售商塞尔福里奇(Selfridges)的热捧，该店有一个以茶为主题的展示橱窗，这是这家伦敦百货店新推出的“我们的家“活动的一部分。最具代表性的展品是由Mariage Frères在2014年生产的限量版俄式大茶壶，壶上有纪念该品牌创立160周年的特别镌刻（该系列这款大茶壶仅生产了10件，目前展出的是可供出售的最后一件）。这种大茶壶为俄式传统茶壶，最顶端是一个可从主体部分拆下单独使用的小茶壶，主体内部可以储存更多的茶汤，通常用一个小火炉保持热度。除了这个俄式茶壶以外，塞尔福里奇还有其他茶具可供选择，例如“偶然的表现主义者“(The Accidental Expressionist)，这是马丁•汤普森(Martyn Thompson)为1882 Ltd设计制作的波洛克(Pollock)风格泼彩茶具。
Elsewhere, functional potters are referencing the past but adding their own twist. Exhibiting at this weekend’s Ceramic Art London, Kiho Kang uses ancient coil-building techniques to create contemporary geometric forms, while Jeremy Nichols’ salt-glazed blue teapots take their design cues from European modernism but come with open handles, as opposed to conventional closed loops.
其他注重功能的制陶者们在借鉴历史的同时融入了他们自己解读。在四月伦敦陶瓷展(Ceramic Art London)上，Kiho Kang运用了古代的卷盘工艺，创造出充满现代感的几何造型，而杰里米•尼克斯(Jeremy Nichols)盐釉蓝色茶壶的设计灵感则来自于欧洲现代主义流派，但其把手为非闭合式的，而非传统的环状闭合把手。
“As a British potter and tea drinker, I have inevitably ingested Japanese and Chinese shapes,“ he says of the significance the wider teaware culture has had on his designs.
“作为一名英国制陶者和一个爱喝茶的人，我不可避免地吸收融入了日本和中国的茶具造型。“杰里米•尼克斯在谈到更广泛的茶具文化对他自身设计的重要性时表示。
Similarly, fellow potter Chris Keenan — who is also exhibiting at Ceramic Art London and is known for only using two glazes, celadon and tenmoku — is experimenting with a new glaze created from a combination of the two. “I’ve only ever used these glazes because I’m still finding new things to do with them, but now I’ve got commissions for tea sets in this new glaze and I will be making more,“ says Keenan. “Pottery for me is about a constant, slow evolution.“
与之类似的是，另一位英国制陶者克里斯•基南(Chris Keenan)——他也参加了伦敦陶瓷展并以仅使用青色釉和天目釉这两种釉质而广为人知——则尝试采用了融合这两种釉质创造出的一种新釉质。“我到目前为止仅使用这几种釉质，因为我仍在试图运用这些釉质去做新的事情。但现在我已经接到了用这种新釉质生产茶具的委托，我会扩大产出。“基南表示，“对我来说，陶艺是一个持续、缓慢的演变过程。“