Golden Toad Tea Pet — Purple Clay (Chan Chu)

The three-legged Golden Toad — chan chu — has sat beside tea drinkers for centuries, a small symbol of prosperity invited to every session. This one is made of unglazed purple clay, the porous stoneware of the gongfu tea tray.

A tea pet is not an ornament you dust. You feed it. Each time you brew, pour a little of the first rinse over the toad; the clay drinks it in, and over weeks and months of sessions its surface deepens in colour and takes on a soft sheen — a record of every tea you have shared with it.

• Unglazed purple clay — stains and darkens with tea, exactly as it should
• Three-legged chan chu, the classic prosperity toad of the tea tray
• Deliberately small: 6 cm long, 3 cm tall — a quiet presence on the tray, satisfyingly heavy for its size
• Carefully packed for the journey — clay travels well when it is packed properly

Care: rinse with hot water only — never soap, which the porous clay would absorb. Begin with your first brew poured over it, and let it grow up with your practice.

Please note: each piece is finished by hand, so small variations in tone and texture are part of its character.