The playful pulse of the tea tray
Water-spitters — cháchǒng that talk — grew out of the Yixing zisha tradition, where ceramists gave their small animal studies a secret voice. A hollow body and a narrow channel are built into the clay so that, when hot water is poured over the figurine, the air inside expands and forces a stream of water out through the dragon’s mouth. The spurt lasts only seconds, a fleeting punctuation in the rhythm of the tea session.
In Zhejiang and Jingdezhen, porcelain water-spitters appeared later, often painted in underglaze cobalt or copper red. Their bodies stay bright, while yixing zhuni clay deepens over years of tea feeding, absorbing oils and tannins into a glossy patina. Both materials are food-safe and entirely functional — the water that spits out is the same clean tea you poured on, ready to be wiped away with the tea cloth.
The dragon motif is the most celebrated, but you’ll also find fu-dogs, toads, and even zodiac animals. In every case, the good-luck gesture is doubled: the dragon rises on the steam, then speaks. Tea masters call this huó lì — living energy — and it’s why a water-spitter often becomes the most cherished piece on the tray.
Our collection opens with a porcelain dragon from the Jingdezhen workshop of Sandry Law, whose pieces are fired in a wood kiln and hand-painted with traditional scales. For more on the tea pets that preceded them, see the encyclopedia entry on cháchǒng at thetea.app; for the full gongfu toolkit, visit tea.equipment.
This season’s water-spitters
From the kilns of Jingdezhen to your tea tray — a single porcelain dragon that spits water with a clear, gurgling note. Each piece is hand-thrown, hollowed, and finished with cobalt dragonscales.