Shape of Tea: A conversation between the old and the daring new world of tea art
Tea ware ceramics from the Song dynasty are placed alongside new works by two contemporary Hong Kong artists
Left, Tea bowl with hare’s fur russet markings in black glaze, Jian ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), Ceramics: right, Emptiness 2, 2025, Tea ware display rack Wood, Yan Yung, Image courtesy of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Shape of Tea at Flagstaff House Museum
Turn off the noise of Cotton Tree Drive and step into the cool, whitewashed calm of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware.
Teapot of cylindrical shape with eight-lobed outer wall pierced with bamboo motif, First half of 18th century, Ceramics
The city outside, with its skyscrapers and relentless pace, falls away. Inside, something quieter is happening.
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The current exhibition, Shape of Tea, presents a conversation between the past and the present, placing ceramics from the Song dynasty alongside new works by two contemporary Hong Kong artists, Yan Yung and Inkgo Lam.
Teacup and saucer with floral spray design in reserved panels in fencai enamels on black ground, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Ceramics
This is not a typical museum display where history sits passively in glass cases. Instead, it is a living dialogue.
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The exhibition invites us to view tea culture not as a relic but as a practice that continues to evolve.
By juxtaposing twelfth-century bowls with twenty-first-century sculpture, the curators reveal that the questions which occupied Song dynasty potters: how to hold heat, how to frame colour, how to create a moment of stillness, are the same ones driving Yung and Lam today.
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The first gallery, Aesthetic Ambience, establishes the mood. Here, history speaks through objects. You see teaware from the Song dynasty (960-1279) displayed alongside the contemporary creations of Yan Yung. The contrast demands attention.
Pair of teacups and saucers with floral sprays and butterfly design in fencai enamels, Yongzheng period (1723-1735), Qing dynasty, Ceramics
To understand these objects, we must understand the era that produced them. The Song dynasty represents a cultural peak in Chinese history, driven by two very different emperors who shaped the artistic landscape.
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First came Emperor Shenzong (reigned 1067-1085). His reign saw a period of immense economic strength, fuelled by the New Policies of his chancellor Wang Anshi.
Song dynasty represents a cultural peak
This economic engine generated wealth that accounted for perhaps a quarter of the global economy at the time.
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It was this prosperity that laid the foundation for the arts to flourish, allowing the court to become a patron on a massive scale.
Teapot of cylindrical shape with bats design and fu characters in reserved panels in gilt on coral red Four-character mark of Tongzhi and of the period (1862-1874), Ceramics
Then came Emperor Huizong (reigned 1100-1126). If Shenzong provided the funds, Huizong provided the obsession.
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He channelled imperial resources into cultural pursuits rather than military defence, a choice that would eventually cost him his empire but gained him immortality in the world of art. Huizong was a tea fanatic.
Hong Kong cascade frog bamboo tube tea caddy, 2025, Bamboo lacquer Inkgo Lam
He famously wrote the Treatise on Tea (Daguan Chalun), in which he detailed the minutiae of cultivation, preparation, and tasting.
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Under his influence, the way people drank tea changed fundamentally. In the earlier Tang dynasty, tea leaves were often boiled in water with spices.
Tea cakes ground into fine powder are whisked into a froth
By the Song era, the preferred method had shifted to dian cha. This involved grinding tea cakes into a fine powder, placing it in a bowl, and whisking it with hot water to create a thick, luscious froth.
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This shift in preparation forced a change in design. The white foam, prized for its density and purity, looked washed out in the white or green bowls of previous eras.
Teapot of melon shape encased with gilt lacquer, Late 18th century, Ceramics
It needed a counterpoint. Potters responded by creating bowls with thick bodies and deep, dark glazes.
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Look closely at the Jian ware tea bowl in this gallery. Its glaze is not a uniform black but is streaked with russet markings that resemble hare’s fur.
Burnt Lacquer Tea Ware 2025, Set of four, wood, lacquer, Yan Yung
This effect was achieved by allowing the iron-rich glaze to pool and separate during firing.
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The thickness of the clay served a practical purpose: it held the heat, ensuring the tea remained warm during the slow sipping of a contest.
But the darkness was aesthetic. It provided the perfect stage for the white tea foam.
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In a Song dynasty tea contest, or doucha, literati would gather to judge the quality of the froth.
Far left, Hong Kong Treescapes 1, 2025, Wood, Yan Yung: left, Teapot of square shape with reserved panels Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Ceramics: centre, Hong Kong Treescapes 2, 2025, Wood Yan Yung: right, Ewer of drum shape with reserved panels 19th-20th century, Ceramics: far right, Hong Kong Treescapes 3, 2025, Wood, Yan Yung
They looked for a pure white colour and a texture so thick that it would cling to the sides of the bowl without revealing the waterline for as long as possible.
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The bowl was not just a vessel; it was a participant in the competition.
Purple clay teapot encased in carved red lacquer with archaic dragons on diaper ground 18th century, Ceramics, Image courtesy of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Yung and Lam respond to this history with their own materials. Yung, a wood artist, and Lam, a bamboo weaver, both work with the natural world.
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Their pieces in this room echo the forms of the Song ceramics but translate them into the language of the forest.
Carved black lacquer cup stand with dragon amidst cloud and wave design, Song dynasty (960-1279) Lacquer
Where the Song potter used fire to transform clay, Yung uses joinery to transform wood, and Lam uses weaving to transform bamboo.
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They share the Song obsession with texture and the way an object sits in the hand, but their solutions are distinctively modern.
Accumulation of Time focuses on craft
The second room, Accumulation of Time, shifts the focus to the patience inherent in craft. The centrepiece here is lacquerware, a material that demands a submission to time.
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Making lacquerware is an exercise in endurance. The artisan must tap the toxic sap – as poisonous as poison ivy – from the lacquer tree, refine it, and then apply it to a wooden or fabric base.
Left, Ewer of six-lobed bud shape in celadon glaze, Jun ware, Northern Song (960-1127) or Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Ceramics: Right, Bowl with incised lotus design in white glaze, Ding ware. Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), Ceramics: Back, Emptiness 4, Tea ware display rack 2025, Wood, gold leaf, Yan Yung, Image courtesy of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
This is not a quick process. The sap is applied layer by layer. Each layer must dry in a humid, dust-free cellar for days before it can be polished and the next layer applied.
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A single high-quality tea tray might hold a hundred layers of lacquer.
Empitness 1, Tea ware display rack, 2025, Wood, paper, Yan Yung, Image courtesy of Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Only after building up this substantial thickness can the carver begin their work. They cut into the hardened sap to create intricate designs of dragons, flowers, or landscapes.
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The material is unforgiving; one slip of the knife can ruin months of work. The Qing dynasty teapot on display here, encased in carved red lacquer, is a testament to thousands of hours of labour.
Hong Kong newt lacquer bamboo weaving teapot holder, 2025, Bamboo, rattan, lacquer, Inkgo Lam
The depth of the carving draws the eye in, revealing a red that seems to glow from within.
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This process mirrors the cultivation of tea itself. A tea bush takes years to mature. The harvest is seasonal, dependent on the rhythm of the sun and rain.
Teapot of globular shape with hen and butterflies design in reserved panels in red enamel and gilt on blue ground, 1720-1730, Ceramics
The withering, rolling, oxidising, and firing of tea leaves cannot be rushed. Both lacquer and tea demand patience.
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Contemporary wood artist Yan Yung understands this rhythm. Her work often involves reclaiming wood from fallen trees or discarded timber and giving it a new life.
Right, Export tea caddy of Hexagonal shape with floral decoration, Mark of Zhonghou, First half of 19th century, Ceramics: left, Hong Kong camellia fice-wall bamboo woven tea caddy featuring a reserved panel in the shape of the ya character, 2025, Bamboo, lacquer, Inkgo Lam
Like the lacquer artist, she must wait for the wood to season. She must understand its grain and its temperament before she cuts.
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Her pieces in this room feel quiet, as if they have absorbed the time it took to make them.
We move next to the third gallery, Frozen in Space. This room explores how objects occupy our world and how they define the space around them.
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The scale changes dramatically here. You encounter mortise tea racks that stand 2 metres tall and bamboo tea tables that extend over 3 metres.
Far left, Hong Kong Treescapes 1, 2025, Wood, Yan Yung: left, Teapot of square shape with reserved panels, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Ceramics: centre, Hong Kong Treescapes 2, 2025, Wood, Yan Yung: right, Ewer of drum shape with reserved panels, 19th-20th century, Ceramics: far right, Hong Kong Treescapes 3, 2025, Wood, Yan Yung
These large-scale works create an architecture for tea. They remind us that tea drinking is not just about the liquid in the cup; it is about the environment we create for the experience.
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Inkgo Lam’s bamboo weaving is particularly striking in this setting. Bamboo is a material that embodies resilience; it bends without breaking.
Lam pushes this property to its limit. Her woven forms seem to capture movement, twisting and turning like smoke rising from a cup.
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The play of light through the woven bamboo casts complex shadows on the gallery walls, shadows that shift and change as you walk around the room.
A tea for one: fleeting life, 2025, Bamboo, rattan, wood, Inkgo Lam
The Flagstaff House building itself plays a role here. Built in the 1840s as the residence of the Commander of British Forces, it is the oldest example of colonial architecture remaining in Hong Kong.
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Its high ceilings and thick walls were designed to keep the heat at bay. Today, these same features provide a cool, hushed backdrop for the tea ware.
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The juxtaposition of colonial military architecture with the delicate, organic forms of Lam’s bamboo creates a fascinating tension. It is a meeting of the rigid and the fluid, the stone and the grass.
Teapot of hexagonal shape with carved floral pattern and calligraphy, 1984, Gu Shaopei, Ceramics
The final section, Art of Tea Tasting, brings the experience back to the body. Here, the exhibition moves from the visual to the experiential. Yung has constructed a tearoom. It serves as a sanctuary.
In the Song dynasty, tea was the social glue of the literati class. Scholars would gather to drink, write poetry, and judge the quality of tea.
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It was a communal activity, a way of bonding and establishing shared values. The tearoom was a space apart from the court intrigue and political manoeuvring.
A tea for two: inner thoughts 2025, Bamboo, stone, Inkgo Lam
Today, in our high-speed city, the need for such spaces is even more acute. Yung’s tearoom offers a pause.
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The smell of the wood, the texture of the bamboo mats, and imagining the sound of water boiling, these sensory details ground the visitor. They force a slowing down.
This room is not just an installation; it is a suggestion. It suggests that despite the centuries that separate us from the Song dynasty, our fundamental needs remain the same.
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We still crave connection. We still seek moments of beauty in our daily lives. We still need spaces where we can sit, drink, and simply be.
A tea for three +: joyful moments, 2025, Inkgo Lam
Shape of Tea succeeds because it refuses to treat tradition as static. By placing the work of two young Hong Kong women next to imperial treasures, the museum shows that the story of tea is not finished.
It is being rewritten every day by artists like Yung and Lam, and by every person who takes the time to brew a cup.
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And in doing so, we participate in a ritual that stretches back a thousand years, adding our own layer to the accumulation of time.
Text and photos Martin Wray
