By the Measure of the Sea | White Porcelain Tea & Coffee Set

Full-hearted, boundless — the generosity of the sea, shared

By the Measure of the Sea is one of the most significant pieces in the NewChi Porcelain range — not only for its form, but for what it took to make it exist. After visiting over a hundred porcelain factories across Asia and Europe, and three years of development that most manufacturers said was impossible, this was the first piece Heinrich Wang successfully fired with the sharp lines, flat surfaces, and suspended handle that define NewChi's design language. The round, full-bodied pot suggests a water motorcycle in full motion — bold, forward-moving, unstoppable. The set includes teapot, cup, saucer, sugar bowl, and creamer — a complete configuration for tea or coffee. This piece has been discontinued. Current stock is the final opportunity to acquire it.

Glaze Gloss Matte

Set Cup & Saucer Sugar Bowl Creamer Teapot

Regular price: $5,280.00 TWD
Regular price
Sale price: $5,280.00 TWD

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Contemporary White Porcelain Craft · Fired at 1300°C

Shipping / Returns | Gift Packaging | Porcelain Care | Custom Base

Designed by Taiwanese artist Heinrich Wang

Designed by contemporary white porcelain artist Heinrich Wang, each piece embodies Eastern philosophy and contemporary form.

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Transforming life philosophy into functional art, conveying a Zen-inspired modern aesthetic.

Transparent-glazed pure white porcelain | Hand crafted

Crafted with a transparent glaze technique, revealing the pure beauty of porcelain’s natural white after firing.

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Only human hands can convey their warmth — every NewChi Porcelain piece is handmade, embracing the challenges of fine porcelain craftsmanship.

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Gift Box & All-Occasion Card

Suited to important celebrations, wishes for elders, corporate gifts and art collections. For a handwritten greeting card, please add your message in the order notes at checkout.

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For a custom wooden or acrylic display stand, please contact us.

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10 work currently available

Why By the Measure of the Sea | Why This Set

This is the piece that proved everything else was possible. Heinrich Wang writes in The Age of Aesthetics: from Asia to Europe, he visited over a hundred qualified factories, every one of which turned him away. The challenge was not just the design — it was the nature of porcelain itself. At 1300°C, the clay softens and shrinks by 15%, warping any straight line, collapsing any flat surface, bending any suspended form. The success rate for pieces like this was below 20%. Most factories refused to try. By the Measure of the Sea was the first proof that it could be done — and its success is what made every subsequent NewChi piece possible. This piece has been discontinued. Current stock is the last.

A full body for generosity, a bold stance for courage. The round, generous body of the pot embodies the Chinese concept of hǎiliàng — a capacity as vast as the sea, the ability to hold everything without strain. The overall silhouette evokes a water motorcycle: compact, powerful, positioned to move forward without hesitation. To use this set is to feel what Wang describes — hǎipài, expansive; xiāosǎ, free.

A complete configuration for tea or coffee, East or West. The set includes teapot, cup, saucer, sugar bowl, and creamer — everything needed for a full tea or coffee service. Heinrich Wang designed By the Measure of the Sea with the same openness the name implies: no restriction, no preference, tea or coffee, Eastern ceremony or Western afternoon — all welcome at the same table.

Usage Scenarios

A complete afternoon table
Pot at center, cup and saucer, sugar and creamer in place — By the Measure of the Sea sets a table that is ready for anything. Black tea with milk, a pour-over coffee, a high mountain oolong: the complete configuration handles any direction without adjustment.
Receiving guests with full preparation
The presence of a sugar bowl and creamer alongside the pot and cups communicates something about the host: everything has been considered, everything is in its place. By the Measure of the Sea is a set that says the guest was expected and prepared for.
Daily use in the study or tea room
The generous round body of the pot holds its presence on a desk or side table. At rest, it is a composed sculptural object. In use, it is an occasion.

Design Details

The craft demands of By the Measure of the Sea are concentrated in four elements, all present simultaneously in the same piece:

The suspended straight handle must maintain a true flat plane after firing. Porcelain softens at 1300°C, and any unsupported horizontal form will deflect under its own weight. Precise support structures and calculated shrinkage compensation are required throughout the firing.

The large flat surface at the top of the pot must resist the tendency to collapse inward under heat. Custom support fixtures hold it through the kiln.

The asymmetrical pot body requires directional slip casting — the mold must be filled at an angle and rotated to distribute the slip evenly, preventing accumulation that would create uneven wall thickness.

The transition from the round body to the flat top surface must be managed at the casting stage, where the angle of the shoulder is most vulnerable to deformation.

That all four were resolved in the same piece, on the first attempt that succeeded, is the reason Heinrich Wang has called this the piece that gave NewChi Porcelain its foundation.

Product Detail

Design Concept

The Story of the First Pot

By the Measure of the Sea is not only a teapot. It is the piece that established what NewChi Porcelain could be.

Heinrich Wang tells the story in The Age of Aesthetics. Twenty years before NewChi Porcelain existed, he had traveled to New York to study glassmaking, and came back with orders for tea and coffee set designs — designs that every Taiwanese ceramics factory immediately rejected. The problem was not the design. It was porcelain itself.

High-temperature porcelain shrinks 15% during firing. The clay softens before it vitrifies. Straight lines deflect. Flat surfaces collapse. Suspended forms bend. These are not problems that can be designed around — they have to be solved in the kiln, one piece at a time, and the solution rate for complex forms was below 20%. Most factories refused to accept that rate. Wang writes: "The more seriously I came to understand what I was asking, the more I understood why everyone told me it was impossible."

Wang writes: "After years of effort and what felt like burning money, we finally completed pieces unlike anything before. Once we had the craft in hand, creativity was no longer constrained — form could carry the brand's ideas without being dissolved. For the first time, we could see the possibility of competing with the established names."

By the Measure of the Sea was the first pot. It demonstrated that straight lines, flat surfaces, and suspended handles could be fired in white porcelain — and in doing so, made every subsequent NewChi piece possible.

Wang designed it to embody the name: the full round body holds everything generously, as the sea holds what it receives; the water motorcycle stance moves forward without hesitation; the suspended handle holds its line without apology. "Racing through the waves with full-hearted passion — to share with everyone we meet the boundless generosity of the sea."

This piece has been discontinued. Current stock is the last.

Brand story excerpted from Heinrich Wang, The Age of Aesthetics, Da Tian Publishing.

Occasions or Usage

Tea and coffee moments
By the Measure of the Sea works equally as a teapot and a coffee brewer. Whether it's a morning coffee or an afternoon tea with friends, every pour is an invitation to share.

Entertaining at home
The generous, full-bodied form is made for gathering. With every cup raised, what is being shared is not only the drink — it is the warmth of being together.

Housewarming, business opening, and promotion gifts
By the Measure of the Sea carries the meaning of an open heart and wide connections — and the aspiration of a life and career expanding outward. A gift with both cultural depth and lasting collectible value.

Ideal For

Personal use: Those who want a complete tea or coffee configuration — and who would find meaning in owning the piece that began NewChi Porcelain

Gifting: A gift for someone who appreciates the story behind the object as much as the object itself; a significant milestone occasion that deserves something with genuine weight

Collecting: As the first pot of NewChi Porcelain — now discontinued — By the Measure of the Sea holds a specific and unrepeatable position in the brand's history. Current stock is the final opportunity to acquire it.

Dimension

Teapot: L21.5 × W14.2 × D17.5 cm
Cup: L12.3 × W9.6 × H6.5 cm
Saucer: L16.7 × W14 × H1.5 cm
Sugar bowl: Dia 8.3 × H10.8 cm
Creamer: L13.3 × W7.7 × H9.35 cm

Racing through the waves with full-hearted passion.
Chasing the connections that stretch across all seas.
Sharing together the boundless, full-hearted generosity of the open horizon.
— Heinrich Wang

About the Artist | Heinrich Wang

Heinrich Wang, founder of NewChi Porcelain and of Tittot, is one of Taiwan's most representative contemporary artists in white porcelain and glass. He brings philosophy and poetry into the design of objects; his work has been invited to exhibitions at art institutions in Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, Paris and Tokyo, and is held in collections in Taiwan and abroad. Each piece is personally overseen by Heinrich Wang, bringing together artistry, culture and everyday use.

More about the artist Heinrich's Design Note

FAQ

Why is By the Measure of the Sea called "the first pot" of NewChi Porcelain?

By the Measure of the Sea was the first piece Heinrich Wang successfully fired with the design language that defines NewChi Porcelain — sharp edges, flat surfaces, a straight suspended handle, an asymmetrical body. Before this piece existed, every factory Wang approached said these forms were impossible to produce in high-temperature porcelain: the 15% shrinkage rate during firing meant that any straight line would deflect, any flat surface would warp, any suspended form would bend. Three years of development and visits to over a hundred factories preceded the first successful firing. "First pot" means the first proof that it could be done — and the piece that gave every subsequent NewChi design its foundation.

This piece has been discontinued — what does that mean for purchasing?

By the Measure of the Sea is no longer in production. No new pieces will be made. What remains in current stock is the complete available inventory — once it is gone, it will not be restocked. For those who want to own the piece that established NewChi Porcelain's craft language, this is the final opportunity. Each set ships in a gift box.

Is this set for tea or coffee?

Both — by design. The set includes a sugar bowl and creamer alongside the teapot, cup, and saucer, making it equally suited to Western coffee service and Eastern tea ceremony. Heinrich Wang designed By the Measure of the Sea around the concept of hǎiliàng — the generosity of the sea, which receives everything without preference. Tea or coffee, milk or no milk, Eastern or Western: the set accommodates all of it without adjustment.

Gift Wrapping

Each NewChi Porcelain piece comes with an elegantly designed gift box.

From the moment it is opened, it conveys your thoughtfulness and refined taste.

Whether it’s a housewarming gift, a wedding present, or a gesture of appreciation for someone important, it expresses warmth and emotion beyond words.

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