Christmas 2015

Among the gifts I received this year were two hand-crafted vases. The glass one was from my friend Gary Mawyer, of Charlottesville. He writes, "The art glass is a mushroom vase with dichroic iridescent blue glass on the top of calcite glass. It is dated and signed by the artist on the bottom, and was picked up in an estate sale here." Depending on the lighting, the vase displays different colors, as these pictures show:

  • The first was taken from the side with a flash.
  • The second was taken from above with a flash.
  • The third, also shot from above, was taken in natural lighting.

The second vase was given to me by Keith Yabusaki, a friend who has recently moved back to his family's home in Wahiawa. The vase came in an embroidered box with this note: "'Spirit of the Wine' Volcano Vase. The Spirit of Wine shape is known for its wide belly and narrow neck. The coloring of the Volcano vase is a purplish red glaze with various tints of light blue and moon white. Much like the islands of Hawaii, this piece must be crafted from extremely high temperatures before the brilliance and beauty are revealed.…The Spirit of the Wine has a very traditional shape from the Ming Dynasty which has been fused with the gorgeous purplish red glaze." The picture here was taken with a flash. Below, both vases are shown, shot from the side in natural lighting.

Yesterday, I was driving with my boyfriend through Kaka‘ako, and as I was gazing out the passenger window, I happened to spot a store called Antique Alley. I am always interested in looking at vintage, antique, and collectible pieces, so we stopped and went inside. I found a wonderful teapot that closely resembled one I had bought a year or two ago at George Kurisu's store on School Street. Both teapots are squat and small—about four inches in diameter and less than three inches tall—and both have a lid whose small handle has three vertical, equally spaced indents.

The teapot from Antique Alley is on the right and came with the plate shown. In addition to its resembling the other teapot, it was finished in an interesting way: except for the streaks and for the interior, it is unglazed, revealing the lovely clay color.

The handle of the teapot from Kurisu's shop looks like twigs bent and bound. The handle of the Antique Alley teapot is not the original one, unfortunately. Perhaps it was also made of bent and bound twigs?

I'm thrilled to have found two teapots so unusual and yet so similar, and I'm also delighted to have made the acquaintance of Andrew (aka Pake) Zane, owner of Antique Alley. Capturing him well, the video below is from a 2013 article by Alana Hong for Civil Beat. See you again soon, Mr. Zane.