A lion that dots its own eyes. Good fortune, set on the tea table.
Object
Lift the handle and it is already at the table. The pot is the lion; four lion-head cups sit around it like a small eye-dotting ceremony of their own. New Year, after-dinner tea, a full room of guests — five pieces is enough.
Overglaze enamel: the colour sits on top of the glaze, so every ridge of the mane stands up in relief and catches the lamp as if it were painted this morning. Painted by hand, each lion's expression and the curve of its mane are slightly different. No two are quite the same.
Yellow for Dad, red for Mum, blue for the boy — everyone claims one and keeps it. A gift of six cups isn't really six cups; it's a small pride of lions, and it quietly solves the oldest problem in any household: whose cup is whose.
Takes the head of the table.
The one noticed when the family gathers.
Holds its own on a dark tea cloth.
Goes with any tablecloth you own.
The gentlest of the six.
Kept for the late cup, alone.
Before a lion dance can begin, there is a ceremony: cinnabar is touched to the eyes of the lion, and only then is it considered awake. This set keeps that gesture in the form itself — the eyes are the brightest point on the pot, and when a lamp finds it, they are the first thing to light up.
It is also why the eyes are painted so heavily. Done by hand, that expression can't be printed. Put it on the table and the lucky thing has been said, without anyone having to say it.
Shopkeepers keep one on the desk for luck; grandparents smile at it; children ask what it is. It carries a story in every direction.
The enamel colour sits on the surface, so it doesn't dull with use. The mane is raised in relief — under a lamp it looks freshly painted.
Hand-painted means the eyes and the curve of the mane differ from piece to piece. Worth mentioning when you give one away.
Shelf · Display
A small scene when not in use
Window · Tea
Light along the mane
Night · Tea
Guests gone, tea still warm
Counter · Serving
Lift the handle, it's at the table
One lion-head teapot with an overhead handle, plus four lion-head cups — five pieces. The pot is the centre; the four cups sit around it.
Yes. The six colours (yellow, red, blue, white, pink, black) can be mixed however you like, or you can take the full set. Tell us your combination before ordering and we'll confirm it.
Yes — it's made to be used daily for tea, and washes normally. Because this is a food-contact product, we don't make verbal assurances: if you need the food-contact safety test report, ask us before ordering and we'll provide it for the relevant batch.
Yes, and it can't be otherwise. The expression in the eyes, the arc of the mane and the painter's brushwork all vary slightly. That's the clearest difference between hand-painting and a printed decal — yours has its own face.
Opening a business, moving house, a birthday banquet, a new baby, or New Year. Cash is crass and liquor is heavy; this lands right in between — "the lion's eyes are dotted, fortune comes in." The blessing is visible, and the recipient can put it out and tell the story.
It gets used. An ornament stays in the cabinet; this one gets lifted and poured every day — which turns the good-luck story into a daily gesture. That's also why it's remembered longer than an ornament ever is.
For every occasion that calls for a few lucky words: cash is crass, liquor is heavy, and this is exactly right — "the lion's eyes are dotted, fortune comes in."