12 Kilns · National Intangible Heritage · China

From the Kilns
to Your Home.

For a thousand years, Chinese porcelain has traveled the world — carried by camel caravans on the Silk Road, shipped in the holds of Ming treasure fleets, collected by emperors and museums. We work directly with 12 family kilns across six provinces. Every piece is signed. Shipped from Foshan.

View the Collection A Thousand Years of Fire
Story

We Go to the Source.

Headquartered in Foshan, Guangdong — the ceramic heart of southern China. From here, we travel to 12 family kilns across six provinces. Direct relationships. No middlemen.

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We began in a modest office in Foshan's Chancheng district. The Shiwan kilns — a thousand-year-old Lingnan tradition — are a twenty-minute walk from our door. We grew up surrounded by clay, glaze, and the smell of wood-fired kilns. We knew the masters by name before we ever thought to start a business.

In 2010, we began traveling to Jingdezhen, Yixing, Dehua — not to buy product, but to build relationships. Most of these workshops had never sold directly to anyone outside China. They didn't have websites. They didn't need them. Their work spoke for itself: a 72-step process unchanged since the Yuan dynasty, celadon glazes that chemistry labs still cannot replicate, zisha clay that had been aging in a cellar since before we were born.

"We do not sell porcelain. We connect you to the hands that made it. If a piece doesn't come with a name, a kiln, a firing date, and a story — it does not leave our warehouse in Foshan."

Today we work with 12 family kilns across six provinces, have delivered over 30,000 pieces to 47 countries, and remain headquartered exactly where we started — Foshan.

12
Family Kilns
47
Countries
30K+
Pieces Delivered
2010
Founded
Heritage

The Twelve Kilns

Each is a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Each has a firing tradition older than most countries. Every piece we offer comes from one of these workshops.

I

Jingdezhen

Jiangxi · Est. 1004

The porcelain capital of the world. Persian cobalt arrived here in the 13th century and created blue-and-white — the most imitated ceramic in history.

II

Dehua

Fujian · Ming Dynasty

Blanc de Chine. Zheng He's treasure fleets carried these ivory-white figures across the Indian Ocean. A family glaze recipe unchanged for 400 years.

III

Yixing

Jiangsu · Song Dynasty

When the Ming Emperor banned compressed tea in 1368, Yixing answered with the zisha teapot — hand-patted from purple clay that breathes with use.

IV

Longquan

Zhejiang · 3rd Century

UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Jade-green celadon fired in dragon kilns for 1,700 years. Emperor Huizong called it "the sky after rain."

V

Shiwan

Guangdong · Our Home Kiln

The ceramic soul of Lingnan. A thousand years of Cantonese kiln tradition, within walking distance of our Foshan office.

VI

Jianyang

Fujian · Song Dynasty

Oil-spot tenmoku born in the fire — never painted. Zen monks prized these bowls for tea meditation. The word "tenmoku" is Japanese for this mountain.

VII

Liling

Hunan · Qing Dynasty

The youngest of the twelve. Famous for underglaze five-color painting — vibrant hues sealed beneath crystal-clear glaze, a revolution in Chinese porcelain decoration.

VIII

Yuzhou

Henan · Song Dynasty

Jun ware. Its purple-blue transmutation glazes — "a streak of sunset across the evening sky" — are produced by copper in a reduction kiln. Impossible to predict. Impossible to replicate.

IX

Ruzhou

Henan · Northern Song

Ru ware. The rarest ceramic in the world — fewer than 100 complete pieces survive. A sky-blue glaze made with crushed agate, fired for Emperor Huizong himself.

X

Yaozhou

Shaanxi · Tang Dynasty

Northern celadon carved with a knife, not painted with a brush. Olive-green glaze pooling darker in the carved grooves. The boldest of China's celadon traditions.

XI

Ding

Hebei · Tang Dynasty

Ivory-white porcelain so thin it glows when held to light. One of the Five Great Kilns of the Song. Its "tear-drop" glaze marks — from molten glaze running — are a prized natural effect.

XII

Zibo

Shandong · Neolithic Roots

The oldest ceramic tradition in China — archaeological kilns here date back 8,000 years. Known for rain-flower glazes that bloom unpredictably in the fire.

History

A Thousand Years of Fire

The twelve kilns span ten centuries of Chinese porcelain. These are the moments that shaped what you hold in your hands today.

3rd C.

The Dragon Kilns of Longquan Are Lit

The first celadon kilns appear in the mountains of southern Zhejiang. Built into hillsides like sleeping dragons, they fire for days at a time.

618

Tang Dynasty · Yaozhou & Ding Kilns Rise

In the north, Yaozhou carvers develop their signature olive-green celadon with knife-cut patterns. In Hebei, Ding kilns perfect ivory-white porcelain — impossibly thin, glowing when held to candlelight.

960

Song Dynasty · The Golden Age of Tea

Emperor Huizong writes a treatise on tea. Monks at Jianyang kilns fire tenmoku bowls with oil-spot glazes born in the flame. Song literati judge tea by white foam against dark glaze. A perfect bowl trades for a horse.

1004

Jingdezhen Is Named

Song Emperor Zhenzong gives the town its imperial name. For the next thousand years, its kilns will never cool. At its peak, 10,000 kilns burn simultaneously.

1100

Ru & Jun · The Emperor's Obsession

In Ruzhou, craftsmen grind agate into glaze for Huizong's private collection — fewer than 100 pieces survive. In Yuzhou, Jun ware's copper transmutation glazes produce violet-blue that no kiln can control.

1271

Mongol Empire · Cobalt Arrives from Persia

The Yuan dynasty opens the Silk Road. Persian cobalt — "Mohammedan blue" — reaches Jingdezhen. Sealed under crystal glaze, the first true blue-and-white porcelain is born.

1368

Ming Dynasty · The Yixing Revolution

The Hongwu Emperor bans compressed tea cakes. Loose-leaf tea transforms Chinese tea culture overnight. Yixing rises with the zisha teapot — unglazed purple clay, hand-patted, the ideal vessel for the new way of brewing.

1405

Zheng He's Treasure Fleets Set Sail

The Ming admiral's armada — 300 ships, 28,000 men — carries Dehua Blanc de Chine across the Indian Ocean. Guanyin figures reach East Africa. Archaeologists still find them in shipwrecks from Kenya to Indonesia.

1640

A Lineage of Women Sculptors Begins in Dehua

In a Fujian workshop, a woman begins sculpting Guanyin. Her daughter learns. And her daughter. Seven generations later, Master Lin Xiujuan still works in the Ming tradition.

1905

Liling · The Five-Color Revolution

In Hunan, craftsmen at Liling perfect underglaze five-color: vibrant pigments painted beneath a crystal-clear glaze. A new chapter in porcelain decoration begins — softer, more painterly, distinctly modern.

2010

INFINITE TOMATO Is Founded

From an office in Foshan's Chancheng district — within walking distance of the Shiwan kilns — we begin traveling across China. Twelve family kilns later, the fire still burns.

Process

Nine Steps from Earth to Art

A piece of Jingdezhen blue-and-white passes through 72 hands before it reaches yours. Here are the nine essential transformations every piece undergoes.

Mining the Clay

Kaolin from the Gaoling mountains — the very deposit that gave the world the word "kaolin." Mined by hand and washed in mountain streams. Some clays age for years.

Wedging & Kneading

The clay is cut, slammed, and kneaded until every air bubble is gone. A single trapped bubble, expanding in the kiln, can destroy a piece that took weeks to make.

Throwing the Form

The master sits at a kick-wheel unchanged in a thousand years. Yixing zisha is never thrown — it is hand-patted, slab by slab, from clay aged three years or more.

Trimming & Drying

The rough form is trimmed until walls are eggshell-thin. Then it rests for weeks in a humidity-controlled room. Rushing means cracks in the fire.

First Firing · Biscuit

At 800°C, the clay becomes bisque — hard enough to shape, porous enough to absorb glaze. Many pieces are discarded here.

Glazing

The bisque body dips into liquid glaze — crushed stone, ash, and minerals. Longquan celadon contains iron oxide. Ru ware used crushed agate. Dehua glaze is a guarded family formula.

Painting

On raw glaze, the painter works with cobalt oxide — black as ink now, brilliant blue after firing. No stencil. Every lotus petal is one irreversible brushstroke.

Glaze Firing · The Fire

1300°C. The kiln burns for 24 hours, cools for three days. Chemistry becomes alchemy: cobalt turns blue, iron to celadon, copper to Jun purple. The oil-spot crystallizes mid-fire.

The Opening

The kiln door opens. Of every hundred pieces, only a fraction are perfect. The rest are shattered on the spot. No compromised piece leaves the workshop — or our warehouse in Foshan.

Philosophy

This Is Not a Commodity

Porcelain is not a product. It is time made solid — a thousand years of trial and error, of kilns that failed and masters who tried again, of a cobalt route from Persia to Jiangxi, of an emperor who banned tea cakes and unknowingly gave birth to the zisha teapot.

When you hold a piece from our collection, you are holding geology — kaolin clay from mountains that were ancient before humans walked upright. You are holding botany — wood ash in the glaze from trees that grew for decades. You are holding biography — the hands of a master who has done one thing, obsessively, for forty years.

This is why every piece we sell is signed. This is why every piece comes with a story. This is why we work directly with 12 family kilns and refuse to stock anything mass-produced.

The fire has burned for a thousand years. It will not go out on our watch.

Collection

Curated Porcelain

Every piece is made to order in a family workshop, signed by the master, and shipped with a certificate of authenticity from Foshan.

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Jingdezhen · Blue & White

Lotus Scroll
Tea Service

Hand-painted cobalt · 1 pot + 2 cups · 1320°C

The lotus has been painted in Jingdezhen for 700 years — since Persian cobalt first arrived on the Silk Road. This set is painted freehand by a sixth-generation family. No stencil. Every petal one brushstroke.

★★★★★ 127 reviews
$89 $120
View Details
♢
Yixing · Zisha

Xi Shi Teapot
Pear-Skin Finish

Huanglongshan ore · Hand-patted · 180ml

Named for Xi Shi — one of ancient China's Four Beauties. Ore from Huanglongshan, aged three years. The pebbled surface took Master Chen 38 years to master. Use it daily and it develops a patina unique to you.

★★★★★ 56 reviews
$199
View Details
♧
Longquan · Celadon

Sky-After-Rain
Tea Bowl

Crackle glaze · Dragon kiln · Ø12cm

Fired in one of the last wood-burning dragon kilns in Longquan. Emperor Huizong described the perfect celadon as "the color of the sky after rain." The crackle deepens with every use.

★★★★★ 89 reviews
$68
View Details
♥
Dehua · Blanc de Chine

Guanyin of
the Southern Sea

Ivory-white glaze · Hand-finished · 22cm

The ivory-white glaze recipe has not changed since the Ming dynasty. Master Lin is seventh generation in an unbroken lineage of women sculptors. Zheng He's fleets carried figures like this to East Africa.

★★★★★ 203 reviews
$165
View Details
People

The Hands Behind the Fire

Not products off a factory line. The life's work of masters who have dedicated decades to a single craft.

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Wang Jianping

Blue & White Painter
Jingdezhen · Sixth Generation

His family has painted the lotus scroll since the Qianlong reign. He learned from his father at age seven — tracing the same petal a thousand times. He can paint a complete tea service freehand in under three hours. Every stroke is irreversible.

♢

Chen Guolin

Zisha Artisan
Yixing · 38 Years

One of fewer than 100 living masters of the pear-skin patting technique. Drives to Huanglongshan himself to select ore. "The clay needs to forget it was a mountain," he says. "Only then will it listen to your hands."

♥

Lin Xiujuan

Figure Sculptor
Dehua · Seventh Generation

The current keeper of an unbroken lineage of women sculptors since 1640. Her grandmother taught her to read the flow of a Guanyin robe — where folds deepen, where they lift, how they catch the morning light.

Words

What Collectors Say

★★★★★

"I gave the Sky-After-Rain bowl to my mother for her 70th. When she unwrapped it and read about the last wood-burning dragon kiln, she sat down and cried. She said it reminded her of her grandmother's bowls in Sichuan."

Sophie M.
Melbourne, Australia
★★★★★

"I've brewed gongfu cha for 15 years. The Xi Shi pot from Master Chen is in a different league. The pour is perfect — clean, no drip. After six months of daily use, the patina is glowing. I'll pass this to my daughter."

David K.
Vancouver, Canada
★★★★★

"The Guanyin statue arrived in packaging so beautiful I didn't want to open it. The certificate is handwritten. She sits on my meditation altar and catches the morning light. Already ordered the dinner plates."

Jennifer L.
San Francisco, USA
Gifting

A Gift Unlike Any Other

Every order arrives wrapped for gifting at no extra charge. Giving someone a piece of history shouldn't feel like an online purchase.

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Signature Packaging

Wrapped in undyed linen, nested in our custom box, sealed with the INFINITE TOMATO wax stamp.

✉

Handwritten Note

Tell us what to say. We write it by hand on our house card. For birthdays, weddings, anniversaries.

☃

Certificate & Story

Every piece includes the kiln's history, the master's name, the clay source, and the firing date — signed.

Care

Made to Last Generations

Simple practices to keep your porcelain beautiful for decades — and for those who come after.

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Daily Use

Jingdezhen and Dehua pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe. Zisha and tenmoku prefer hand washing — hot water only, no soap.

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Seasoning Zisha

Rinse with boiling water before first use, then brew and discard one pot. Dedicate each pot to one tea type for the best patina.

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Celadon Crackle

The crackle deepens naturally with use as tea seeps into micro-fissures. The piece ages alongside you. Avoid harsh detergents.

FAQ

Questions & Answers

Is each piece truly handmade?

Yes — without exception. Every piece is thrown, trimmed, painted, glazed, and fired by hand. Your certificate names the kiln, the master, and the firing date.

How long is shipping?

Free standard (7–14 days) on orders over $150. Express (3–5 days) available. Fully insured with tracking. Shipped from Foshan, Guangdong.

What if it arrives damaged?

Below 0.3% damage rate. If it happens, send a photo — we ship a replacement immediately. You keep the original. No return needed.

Can I return or exchange?

Yes. 30 days from delivery. Return in original condition for full refund or exchange. We cover return shipping.

Can I visit a kiln?

We arrange private kiln visits for collectors and returning customers. Contact us for a tour of the workshops behind your favorite pieces.

Where are you based?

Foshan, Guangdong — the ceramic heart of southern China, home to the Shiwan kilns. We ship worldwide from our fulfillment center here.

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Studio visits, new pieces, and stories from the masters — once a month. Plus 10% off your first order.