Yixing

[DailyTX]

Fortunately, I had not bought it yet. Thanks for your opinion on the pot.

@Mark-S
Looks modern to me. Maybe others can comment on it.

[Stephen]

Came across this 650ml pot. Do you think this is a kettle (given the volume and design) or teapot? I have no experience with yixing kettles. Any thoughts on age and origin?

[Bok]

Don’t think it’s a kettle. Handle and overall design is a bit sloppy, probably a cheap modern-ish pot.

[Chadrinkincat]

@Stephen

Clay looks similar to some of the 90-00’s stuff that CWS has sold. Likely fairly modern. Probably meant as teapot rather than kettle.

[Stephen]

@Bok @Chadrinkincat

Thanks for your input! I have tea, and a few teawares available in my acupuncture clinic. People don't seem to like the smaller, pricier teapots so I wanted something larger, and cheaper. When I got this I wondered if it might be a clay kettle which I've always wanted to try.

[Mark-S]

What do you think about this teapot? (apparently late Qing dynasty for export to the Middle East)

Is it from Yixing and what do you think about the clay? Good? Mediocre? Junk? I did not know that they made teapots for export to the Middle East.



The picture is from this blog: http://blog.andrewbaseman.com/?tag=yixing (very interesting stuff btw )

[Bok]

What do you think about this teapot? (apparently late Qing dynasty for export to the Middle East)

Is it from Yixing and what do you think about the clay? Good? Mediocre? Junk?

The picture is from this blog: http://blog.andrewbaseman.com/?tag=yixing (very interesting stuff btw )

That blog is quit interesting, I've been following it for years.

The pot in question is not exactly rubbish, but not something considered worthwhile collecting by many. Reasons being: The proportions are off and the workmanship is not very good, see handle for example. The clay itself is low-fired Zisha, so the effect on tea will be poor. Many in Asia avoid this kind of commoner pot clay as it performs poorly and is best suited for low-mid grade teas (in that case maybe not a bad fit for many in the West as it will match the teas available )

Any repair will lower the overall value of an antique, yet this one is done nicely and for me personally it would be a plus, but then I do have a preference for these "ugly ducklings" ...

I did not know that they made teapots for export to the Middle East.

Probably a lot more than they did for the West, I do believe that tea consumption has been and still is a lot higher there than in central Europe.

[Chadrinkincat]

What do you think about this teapot? (apparently late Qing dynasty for export to the Middle East)

Is it from Yixing and what do you think about the clay? Good? Mediocre? Junk?

The picture is from this blog: http://blog.andrewbaseman.com/?tag=yixing (very interesting stuff btw )

That blog is quit interesting, I've been following it for years.

The pot in question is not exactly rubbish, but not something considered worthwhile collecting by many. Reasons being: The proportions are off and the workmanship is not very good, see handle for example. The clay itself is low-fired Zisha, so the effect on tea will be poor. Many in Asia avoid this kind of commoner pot clay as it performs poorly and is best suited for low-mid grade teas (in that case maybe not a bad fit for many in the West as it will match the teas available )

Any repair will lower the overall value of an antique, yet this one is done nicely and for me personally it would be a plus, but then I do have a preference for these "ugly ducklings" ...

I did not know that they made teapots for export to the Middle East.

Probably a lot more than they did for the West, I do believe that tea consumption has been and still is a lot higher there than in central Europe.

Export to java, Indonesian makes more sense than the Middle East.

Another similar pot w/ different Java seal. https://www.antiquers.com/threads/chine ... pot.34762/

[Bok]

Export to java, Indonesian makes more sense than the Middle East.

Why is that? China has been a major exporter of mass produced goods since ancient times. That said, I believe the vast majority of export to Europe and Middle East, Russia etc. has been porcelain teaware, rather than Yixing, while most parts of Asia ordered Yixing.

Nice examples. Better quality than the one from Baseman.

[Chadrinkincat]

Export to java, Indonesian makes more sense than the Middle East.

Why is that? China has been a major exporter of mass produced goods since ancient times. That said, I believe the vast majority of export to Europe and Middle East, Russia etc. has been porcelain teaware, rather than Yixing, while most parts of Asia ordered Yixing.

Nice examples. Better quality than the one from Baseman.

These types of pots are available on eBay and they often ship from Indonesia and MY.

The Middle East is not the only place that use Arabic. “ For a period from the 15th century onwards, Javanese was also written with a version of the Arabic alphabet, called pegon (ن ݢ ٙ ڤٙي ٙ).” https://www.omniglot.com/writing/javanese.htm

[Mark-S]

The pot in question is not exactly rubbish, but not something considered worthwhile collecting by many. Reasons being: The proportions are off and the workmanship is not very good, see handle for example. The clay itself is low-fired Zisha, so the effect on tea will be poor. Many in Asia avoid this kind of commoner pot clay as it performs poorly and is best suited for low-mid grade teas (in that case maybe not a bad fit for many in the West as it will match the teas available )

Thanks for your estimation. The teapot would cost me $17. However, I think I will avoid it too then because of the clay. I do not know much about the quality of teas, but the tea I drink is not cheap (up to $37 for 100g). There is no better tea available here. I know you do not value teapots from the green label era, but I like them... good clay & craftmanship (in my opinion). In addition, they are often clean and not too pricy.

Maybe you can answer me one more question:

The factory one teapots sold in Europe are often highly decorated. Is this because the Chinese did not export ordinary teapots to Europe? Are the decorated pots of better quality then the Chinese pots you find in this group en masse? https://facebook.com/groups/1429378320690167/

Any repair will lower the overall value of an antique, yet this one is done nicely and for me personally it would be a plus, but then I do have a preference for these "ugly ducklings" ...

It is not a repair. It just looks like one. I found a few of these teapots online and they all look the same... more or less.

[Mark-S]

Export to java, Indonesian makes more sense than the Middle East.

Another similar pot w/ different Java seal. https://www.antiquers.com/threads/chine ... pot.34762/

Wow, that one looks very nice! Thank you very much. I think I will buy it... Maybe I can make it shine like this one. I hope that it is not sold yet. What is the normal price on eBay for these pots?

[Bok]

Thanks for your estimation. The teapot would cost me $17. However, I think I will avoid it too then because of the clay. I do not know much about the quality of teas, but the tea I drink is not cheap (up to $37 for 100g). There is no better tea available here. I know you do not value teapots from the green label era, but I like them... good clay & craftmanship (in my opinion). In addition, they are often clean and not too pricy.

If it is real and you pass on a $17 Teapot from the late Qing, then you are a fool! I doubt it can be had at that price though and be real... Even the repaired ones are still not that cheap by far!
And what is good clay? What does that even mean? For me it only works by comparison, good clay is better than xyz. In that logic I don't dislike green label, I just don't need it as I have comparatively much better performing clay from other periods. Not even mentioning the charm of fully handmade tea ware.

Maybe you can answer me one more question:

The factory one teapots sold in Europe are often highly decorated. Is this because the Chinese did not export ordinary teapots to Europe? Are the decorated pots of better quality then the Chinese pots you find in this group en masse? https://facebook.com/groups/1429378320690167/

Because they are from later factory periods 80s-end mostly. The ones from the fb group only collect 50-60-70s, which are considered superior in clay and value as well. At those times there were no decorated pots, only a few standard models.

It is not a repair. It just looks like one. I found a few of these teapots online and they all look the same... more or less.

A lot of them break in similar places, which is why repairs can look same-ish. But yes, there was also a demand for certain fittings in SEA.

[Chadrinkincat]

@Mark-S

I think the last one I saw with that same round seal was $20-30 and details looked exactly the same. I could be wrong but I don’t think these pots are made of yixing clay. I’ve never seen one in person but based on pictures I has more of a Chaozhou look. Probably not a very practical pot for use but sorta cool as a curiosity piece.

Which decorated F1 pots in Europe are you talking about?

[Mark-S]

If it is real and you pass on a $17 Teapot from the late Qing, then you are a fool! I doubt it can be had at that price though and be real... Even the repaired ones are still not that cheap by far!

I do not have enough money to buy them all, and I like the green label pots better because of the designs. Furthermore, I do not like pots with chips or a broken spout if it is not repaired. Last week I had the opportunity to buy a late Qing to early republic pot for $65, but it had a broken spout, so I took a pass on it. The same pot was posted in the Facebook group. I took a screenshot some time ago and remembered it (you can see the pot below). It is really hard to find undamaged teapots from this time or earlier.

Because they are from later factory periods 80s-end mostly. The ones from the fb group only collect 50-60-70s, which are considered superior in clay and value as well. At those times there were no decorated pots, only a few standard models.

That makes sense. However, take this seller for example: https://essenceoftea.com/collections/yixing-teapots

He sells later factory pots and most are standard models. Decorated green label teapots are rare, but not impossible to find where I live. I have not found one standard model factory teapot though. I think these teapots were only bought for decoration in Europe, so they bought more decorated ones. But this is only an assumption by me.