A turquoise crackle glaze, a petal-cut rim, and a saucer shaped to seat the cup.

Opening

Some glazes are painted on. This one is decided in the kiln.

A turquoise ground crazes into rust-brown veins as the piece cools, so the pattern on your cup is the one that happened to form that day — not a print, not a decal. The rim is cut into six soft petals. The saucer repeats the same outline and carries a shallow well in the middle, so the cup finds its seat and stays put.

Pour, and watch the liquor sit against the pale interior wall.

Four reasons this cup stays on the table

• Fire-made pattern. The crackle network forms while the piece cools. Every cup leaves the kiln with its own map; the photos here show the range, not an exact match.

• A petal rim, not a circle. Six low petals, edged by a thin line where the glaze breaks against the darker body. The opening reads as a flower from above.

• A seat, not a plate. The saucer’s recessed centre takes the cup’s foot, keeping a full cup centred while you pour.

• A pale interior. The inside wall stays light, so you can read the tea from first steep to last as the liquor thins.

The glaze

A kiln-transmuted glaze (窑变, yáo biàn) is not one colour but a result. The piece is glazed and fired once; as the kiln cools, the glaze contracts faster than the body beneath and crazes into a fine network. Where the lines run, the glaze thins and the darker body reads through as rust-brown veins. Cooling differs across a kiln, so no two pieces carry the same pattern — each cup is individual by process rather than by design.

The form

The cup widens from a small foot to the six-petal rim, so the opening reads as a flower rather than a circle. The foot ring is left in a deep brown tone that lifts the turquoise above the table. The saucer repeats the petal outline and adds a shallow circular well — the cup’s foot sits inside it, which is what keeps a full cup from sliding.

In use

Small enough for gongfu brewing, where the cup is refilled often, and plain enough for everyday tea at a desk. Drink from it alone, or set it on the saucer when the table is crowded. The glossy surface takes a soft reflection from a window, which is when the crackle reads most clearly.

Care

Hand wash in warm water with a soft cloth, rinse, and air-dry. Avoid sudden temperature change — do not pour boiling water into a cold cup, and do not move it straight from a cold shelf to a hot rinse. Tea can deepen the tone of the veins over years if it settles into them; wash and dry after use to slow that down. Dishwasher and microwave suitability depends on the maker’s glaze specification for your batch — ask us before ordering if this matters to you.