Yixing

[Bok]

Bok
Thanks, that's good information. I still have trouble to distinguish between different kinds of clay.

Am I right that this is NZWH?


And this is Hongni?


What are the optical differences between Zhuni and Hongni?

Wrong. Both look like Hongni. If it would be NZWH the inside would have a different colour and the outside would have a shinier look. You can also sometimes see brush traces from the application of the Hongni coating.

[Bok]

@Mark-S basic differences between Zhuni and Hongni:

Zhuni is more like an orangey red, while Hongni looks red, red-brownish(yet that can differ between different periods).

Zhuni has a certain glow to it, while Hongni doesn’t (unseasoned, can get it with time). Zhuni can have wrinkles from the shrinkages. The biggest tell tale for real Zhuni is the dramatic colour shift from orange to dark red when hot water is filled in.

There’s more, but that’s the basics.

[Bok]

But it’s not that easy, there’s a special red Zhuni as well... haha confused yet?

[Youzi]

@Bok
Zhuni and hongni are never mixed with each other, it's either one or the other.

They are around the yellow stone layer though. HLS zhuni is a kind of mix of attributes between other mountain zhuni and HLS Hongni, by attributes.

(HLS zhuni can be fired at higher temperature and has smaller shrinkage, compared to Zhaozhuang or Hongwei Zhuni.)

Modern Zhuni comes from two places, HLS and Fudong mine. Both are real zhuni, HLS has more brand, but fudong is more similar to HW and ZZ zhuni in attributes.

[Mark-S]

@Bok
That's really Hongni? Maybe it is hard to see on the photo. I took a new one with my smartphone. Hopefully, it is good enough. The clay looks different, but there are no brush strokes or signs of dipping.

Yeah, this topic ist really confusing. Do you have an example for the "wrinkles from the shrinkages"? I have read this before, but I did not see it on any pots.

[steanze]

Bok
That's really Hongni? Maybe it is hard to see on the photo. I took a new one with my smartphone. Hopefully, it is good enough. The clay looks different, but there are no brush strokes or signs of dipping.

Yeah, this topic ist really confusing. Do you have an example for the "wrinkles from the shrinkages"? I have read this before, but I did not see it on any pots.

yes it's hongni. There can be slight differences inside/outside due to firing.

[Mark-S]

@steanze
Okay, thanks. So the difference in color has to be this big to be NZWH? Or how do you know if it is NZWH or Hongni?


(from tingjunkie, teachat.com)

[Youzi]

steanze
Okay, thanks. So the difference in color has to be this big to be NZWH? Or how do you know if it is NZWH or Hongni?


(from tingjunkie, teachat.com)

This is NZWH. You can see the "paint". And the inner part is purple, not orangeish.

[Mark-S]

Unfortunately, Zini is not always that purple. I hope that I will get a NZWH pot sometime to be able to compare them better. But nice to know that two of my pots are Hongni.

Another question: Have you ever removed a green label sticker from a teapot without damaging it? How did you do this?

[mael]

Bok
That's really Hongni? Maybe it is hard to see on the photo. I took a new one with my smartphone. Hopefully, it is good enough. The clay looks different, but there are no brush strokes or signs of dipping.

Looks like NZWH to me (also in first pic)

[Mark-S]

Now, I am really confused.

[DailyTX]

Unfortunately, Zini is not always that purple. I hope that I will get a NZWH pot sometime to be able to compare them better. But nice to know that two of my pots are Hongni.

Another question: Have you ever removed a green label sticker from a teapot without damaging it? How did you do this?

Use water to dissolve the glue. Put a wet paper towel on the sticker or submerge the pot in a bucket of water and wait for the water to do the trick

[Mark-S]

@DailyTX
Just water? That's much easier than expected, thanks. And I thought of something like steam and dental floss.

[Chadrinkincat]

Ya, 500$ for an 80s pot is extremely high! Kind of disproportionate in my opinion, when they also offer LQER for <only> double...

I inquired about a one of their smaller zhuni pots and to see if they had plans to restock and smaller pots from this era. Not sure what clay the other two pot are but all three are SGD4000 or roughly $3000 US. I suspect that $1000 zhuni pot that was talked about awhile back was either a fluke or an error in calculating the exchange rate.

[Chadrinkincat]

Bok
That's really Hongni? Maybe it is hard to see on the photo. I took a new one with my smartphone. Hopefully, it is good enough. The clay looks different, but there are no brush strokes or signs of dipping.

Yeah, this topic ist really confusing. Do you have an example for the "wrinkles from the shrinkages"? I have read this before, but I did not see it on any pots.

I could be wrong but this looks like a well done example of nzwh w/ light reddish clay inside. Grainy texture of lid rim doesn’t look like hongni to me.

Similar look to this one.