"Bu Dao Weng" (不倒翁), literally "tumbler" or "roly-poly," describes a figure weighted at the bottom so that no matter how it tips, it always returns upright. The bowl takes that quality in its form: a generous, round belly, a short body, and a wide, grounded foot — the kind of shape that feels settled and unmoved when it sits in the hand.
The glaze is a Tian Yan (天眼, "Sky Eye") oil spot, set on a deep black ground. The silver crystals here are some of the most three-dimensional in this line — raised like small metal beads packed tightly across both the interior and the exterior. Where the light catches the surface, the crystals show a clear blue-green iridescence; in lower light they read as bright silver against the dark body. The whole bowl wears its pattern like a layer of scale.
Handcrafted in Jianyang, Nanping, Fujian — historically known as Jianzhou or Jian'an — and fired at 1300°C. The bowl is dense in hand and holds heat well; its iron-rich glaze is often said to soften the taste of the tea.
| Capacity |
170 ml |
| Weight |
263 g |
| Height |
6 cm |
| Diameter |
8 cm |
Handmade — slight variations in size and weight are normal.
Held in hand for size reference — see photo above.
Photos are taken of one piece selected at random from each batch. The bowl you receive will carry the same glaze and the same overall pattern, with only very slight differences in the exact placement of individual spots or streaks — a subtle variation, never a drastic change. Slight color differences may also appear due to lighting and screen calibration.
Packaging
Each Jianzhan comes in a dedicated cloth bag — cotton-linen exterior, silk-wadding interlayer, velvet-lined interior — then securely packed for safe shipping.
Availability
Limited stock. 2–5 pieces available per design — once sold out, not restocked.
Explore the full Jianzhan collection →
Note: some bowls carry small smooth sand points on the glaze surface — natural marks left by the firing, very common in wood-fired, traditionally hand-thrown Jianzhan. They are smooth to the touch, with no pits or depressions, do not affect the bowl's use for tea in any way, and are not considered a workmanship defect.
