I’ve been thinking that maybe these design variations have something to do with exportation, since ‘straight borders’ and ‘parallel lines’ would be less inclined to break in transportation.
But I suspect this may not be the whole story.
Japanese don’t use such thing as a gaiwan, do they? I think I would have found some in these stores, if they did use.
What I’ve seen is some sort of regular mug, with a ceramic strainer plus a ceramic lid, which I consider to deviate from the idea of the gaiwan, in which the lid is also a ‘strainer’.
I don’t mean to be labeling anyone, please tell me if it sounds like so.
By the way, english tea ware seems to be influenced by these forms which I identify as ‘chinese’, which reinforces my thesis on the ‘sinuous’ forms.
Interestingly enough, the latin root of the word seems to be related, although I’m not an expert in etimology (“sino” – latin for chinese, “sino”, in portuguese means ‘bell’, and ‘sinuous’, full of curves, is related to ‘bell’).
But maybe this is just a big coincidence!
