Before the infusion: kettle, brazier and brewing pot

Start below the kettle#

On printed p. 193 / PDF p. 197 of Taiwan Tea Ware, a rounded kettle stands above a stove on short feet. Its tall handle rises clear of the lid; the spout curves away from the body. The caption identifies Chen Ching-liang’s 義氣壺, Yiqi kettle, with its distinctive stove, and credits the collection 苔心坊. The photograph presents a designed pair, not a complete tea service in action. Photograph and caption

The name 燒水壺 means a vessel for heating water. The stove beneath it supplies the heating position; it is a separate object from the kettle that holds and pours the water. A stove opening, a vessel opening and a pouring spout have different jobs even when the objects share a colour or material.

Keep heating and infusion separate#

In this arrangement, the kettle prepares the water; the brewing pot or gaiwan is where water meets tea leaves. Follow the roles in order: water is heated in the kettle, transferred to the brewing vessel, and later served as an infusion. This is a map of functions, not a reconstruction of a ceremony shown in the photograph. The picture alone does not establish leaf quantity, water temperature or serving order.

Huang Hao-ting’s account in Taiwan Crafts explicitly describes the Yiqi design as a water-boiling kettle. That identification matters more than an overhead handle by itself: a handle position does not tell us whether an unfamiliar vessel heated water or brewed tea. The documented boiling function

Read the handle, lid and steam outlet together#

The National Center for Traditional Arts records a Yiqi kettle, accession 11200406002. Its description draws attention to an outlet behind the handle, a removable overhead handle and a lid with a high inner wall. It explains these features in relation to handling and storage. The craft article likewise describes redirecting steam towards the rear. These are accounts of the design’s intentions, not independent tests of safety. Institutional object description Design account

Notice the useful questions this raises: where does the handle attach, how does the lid sit, and where is the outlet described? The frontal book photograph cannot answer every question about the rear or interior. Nor has the museum object been proved to be the same physical specimen as the book’s kettle. Keep their records separate even though the design name agrees.

Different solutions to the same task#

The next two book photographs widen the comparison. Printed p. 194 / PDF p. 198 identifies a kettle by 劉欽瑩; printed p. 195 / PDF p. 199 presents 古川子’s kettle-and-stove group. One photograph isolates the kettle, while the other shows its support below. Their different bodies, handles and lid profiles make variation visible without requiring a single ideal silhouette. These are separate named examples, not additional views of Chen’s set. The neighbouring examples

The plates supply no capacities or dimensions for these specimens. Their visual scale on the page is therefore not a measure of how much water they hold. Material names and claims about improving water in the surrounding prose also require evidence beyond the photographs; they are not a basis for predicting taste or health effects here.

Return to the tea table#

When reading a tea-table photograph, first locate the heat source, then identify the vessel above it and the vessel that receives its water. If the receiving vessel is outside the frame, leave that step open. Ask which caption or record identifies the function before turning a familiar outline into a fixed ritual.

For these examples, the clearest distinction survives every design variation: the kettle prepares water, while the brewing vessel brings water and leaves together. The next question is how the resulting infusion reaches the cups—a separate part of the service.

Related#

• Follow a documented Taiwanese service from brewing vessel to cups
• Meet Chen Ching-liang through two other documented objects