chafyiTeaware
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Shape Chinasources cited

Tea-bowl stand

zhǎntuō

Traditional 盞託Also called 茶托 chátuōAlso called 托子 tuōzǐAlso called 台盏 táizhǎn

A stand steadies a handleless tea bowl and gives the drinker a place to hold it. The foot of the bowl can rest in a recess or within a raised ring. Ceramic examples predate the Tang dynasty.

On this page
Zhantuo (tea-bowl stand), side view
Zhantuo (tea-bowl stand), side view
  1. 1Rim
  2. 2Body
  3. 3Base
A bowl stand with an open central collar, broad flange and low flaring foot. Compare the Ding ware stand in the National Palace Museum, collection record 1079. Other stands have a recessed seat.Reference height · 6.8 cm · National Palace Museum, Ding-ware bowl stand with open socket. Height follows the cited example. Other proportions are schematic.

Form#

Body
A recess or a raised ring receives the bowl foot. The illustrated stand has a raised ring.Cat. 1 · pp. 40–41
Handle
none (held by the wide circular or lotus-petal flange)
Base
Low, slightly flaring foot on the illustrated stand.

Working volume#

This support is best described by the dimensions of its seat and the vessel it carries. A flat stand has no useful liquid capacity; a recessed or double-layer design may catch drips. Any reservoir volume belongs to that individual design, not to the name of the form.

Variants and sub-types#

Compare the central seat, surrounding flange and foot. A raised hollow seat differs from a shallow recess; a circular flange differs from a lobed one. The bowl and stand must also be studied together: matching dimensions and archaeological context are stronger evidence of a pairing than visual resemblance alone.

History#

Catalogue no. 1 pairs a celadon bowl with a shallow stand whose recessed centre receives its foot. The catalogue dates the set to the Southern and Northern Dynasties (386–589). An incised lotus opens inside the bowl.Cat. 1 · pp. 40–41

  1. Tang dynasty, Jianzhong reign (780–783 CE)Li Kuangyi's 資暇集 (Zixia Ji) attributes the invention of the tea-bowl stand (托子) to the daughter of Cui Ning (崔寧), military governor of Xichuan, who dripped melted candle wax into a saucer to form a ring that stopped a hot tea cup from tipping and burning her fingers, then commissioned lacquer artisans to make ringed stands.2
  2. Northern and Southern Song (960–1279)Produced across Ru, Jun, Ding, Yaozhou, Longquan, and Jingdezhen qingbai kilns (as well as carved lacquer and parcel-gilt silver) to pair with black-glazed Jian bowls and celadon bowls; exported to Korea (Goryeo celadon cup-and-stand sets) and Japan (Tenmoku stand 天目台).1

The Palace Museum dates porcelain bowl stands to the Eastern Jin. The National Museum of China contrasts earlier archaeological finds with the Tang account crediting Cui Ning’s daughter. The anecdote documents how the object’s origin was explained; it does not establish the first invention. 中國國家博物館

Related#

Learn

Reading Yixing shape namesGaiwan, cups and pitcher: the porcelain side of the tea tableTea vessels in Japan and Korea: Chadō, Senchadō and Darye

Wares

Jingdezhen porcelainLongquan celadonRu wareJizhou ware

On Cha.fyi

Cup stand 茶托

Sources#

  1. 广东省博物馆、香港市政局 主编《中国古代茶具展》(1986)香港市政局 / 茶具文物馆 (Urban Council Hong Kong / Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware) · Museums and collections · Accessed 2026-11-04
  2. 陈宗懋 主编《中国茶叶大辞典》(2000)中国轻工业出版社 (China Light Industry Press) · Reference works · Accessed 2026-11-04
  3. 冯先铭 等 撰文《中国陶瓷茶具》(1994)淑馨出版社 (Shuxin Publishing House, Taipei) · scholarship · Accessed 2026-11-04
  4. 中國古代茶具展 · Ancient Chinese Tea WaresUrban Council, Hong Kong / National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing · 1994
Status and editorial notes sources cited

Sources are listed below. Their presence does not certify every claim; source-specific interpretations and unresolved questions are identified in the text. This page has not received independent expert approval.