The Daily Practice Tray offers a simplified version of Song’s most iconic piece of teaware, and the base to all our gong fu, or dry brew, style tea preparations. In contrast to its predecessors, this version of Wang Wen De’s classic features squared edges, giving the illusion of greater height and weight than the original versions.

Like the round Boat Tray, the Daily Practice Tray features a heavily abstracted version of the artist’s conceptualization of water, horizontal lines dragging through the incisions in the tray top, like flowing streams of water.

Each ceramic tea tray is formed by joining layers of stoneware, leaving a shallow cavity within for capturing water overflow. The individual incisions of the tray are carved one at a time by the artist, a task that is meticulous and difficult, as each incision must be carved with the tray inverted. After a bisque firing, all surfaces are glazed in a soft white shino.

*Please take note that each tray can be slightly different in color tone and texture. It is not unusual to have areas of thicker glazing, and or colorations that reflect the different interactions between the mineral content of the clay body and glaze. Each tray is unique, and may not be identical to the photographed item. Each is beautiful.