Chinese tea · leather, brass, raking light
Thirty-four Chinese teas held on worn black leather with hand stitching, brass hardware and a stamped hang tag. Nothing here is glossy and nothing is new.
7 teas · 5 categories
Leather records what has happened to it, and so does tea. Both take their character from being handled, stored and left alone for years, which is why the surface here is scarred rather than finished and the type is pressed in rather than laid on. Hardware is structural: a rivet holds the plaque, an eyelet takes the cord, the tag carries the name, and none of it is ornament. Aged pu-erh, charcoal-roasted rock oolong and old-bush da hong pao suit this best, because each one tastes of storage and fire rather than of freshness. Light comes from one side only, so grain, stitch and dry leaf are all read by their shadows. Nothing shines here except brass that someone has already worn down.