Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tea Lifestyle-Anybody knows what it is? Native American tea cup?


I have never seen such an intereting "tea cup" before so I bought it. The person who sold me this item did not know what's for...but it does not look like it's used for tea because it comes with a stick made of antler. Since it has a moose head at the handle, my guess is that it has something to do with Native American

I am always fascinated by American Indian culture. I have seen many cute American Indian decor pieces which normally have feathers, leather etc. But this cup is very different. It's made of wood, with antler as a decore. Some say it might be game related, but how can you play a game in a cup? It's a complete mistery to me.   


Anybody can help me?;((

6 comments:

Kate Seymour said...

This is a mate tea gourd. It was first used by the Guarani and it is very important to many of the native rain forest tribes for use in their ceremonies and for general use.

Unknown said...

Thanks Kate for your kindly note...

I actually do have a very precious old styled Mate Tea Gourd...The gourd comes with a straw like thing which you can use the drink the tea, but this Native American "cup" does not have a straw...it's more like a stick which you can use to mix things...if it was from China, i would guess it would be used in Chinese medicine...
no?

Kate Seymour said...

Hummm...the picture looked like it had the straw - my bad! I'm not sure but in that case I'd definitely say it's for herbs/medicinal substances - probably use the stick to crush the herbs up before adding the water would be my guess.

Unknown said...

please, Kate!!!

I think you are right that it's something related to herbs...it also comes with a little white thing, probably made of clay...not sure what that is used for...

Anonymous said...

Hallo Dear Tea Beyond,

the correct answer comes a bit late but better late than never. The cup in the picture is "Kuksa", used by the Sami people in Northern Europe. It is made of northern, bush-like birch, which grows very slowly and becomes hard because of the tundra climate. The animal on the handle is reindeer. So, nothing to do with natives of the americas. It is a drinking cup. Many wanderers nowadays use this to drink coffee, tea or water while on the wild. As a Finn with outdoor hobbies I have one as well. Google "Kuksa" for more information.

With best wishes,

L

Unknown said...

Dear L,
Fabulous!!! Absolutely Fabulous answer!! Thank you so much for the detailed info!!

Let me ask you this: is it worth a lot of money?;)) haha...in case i could sell for $$$...kidding! I bought this at a store and it looks like authentic one which probably has some histories! I love it!!

Just did a quick research about Kuksa. One quick question-what does the little white tool in the cup (looks like made of clay or some sort of ceramic)used for? I did not see any of the Kuksas have that? is it use to help mix the drink or?

THANK YA!!

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