Yixing

[theredbaron]

Here is a fleemarket find from last summer.
Initially i thought this might have been made for a western market, but then saw it in a factory one catalogue. Maybe green sticker period? Anybody maybe could tell me more about it?
I use it now for Red/Black tea

[theredbaron]

and the stamp on the lid

[theredbaron]

Here some pics from a catalogue

[Mark-S]

Here a decorative pot

Beautiful! I am still searching for this style.

I have bought this cup set last week. I can show you more pictures soon. Mine is from green label period. Yours is probably too.

[theredbaron]

Beautiful! I am still searching for this style.

I have bought this cup set last week. I can show you more pictures soon. Mine is from green label period. Yours is probably too.

Thank you

After i rediscovered my pot, i have had a look at auction sites, and was quite shocked about the prices

[Victoria]

Here some pics from a catalogue

Does anyone have the actual catalogue(s)? Would be really useful to have higher resolution scans of every page shared on this forum. @theredbaron the clay and form both on that second simpler mug you shared looks really good. How did you happen to pair it with black tea? Interesting choice .

[Victoria]

In terms of Chinese clays which are the softest red clays? i.e. soft to the touch red clay after firing. Do these soft clays tend to have medium walled bodies? Thanks

Softest to the touch is probably Zhuni, or early 50-60s Hongni. Wall thickness is independent of that. You'll find all kinds. CZ clay is rough, only the glazed part is smooth. Red-fired Zisha/Zini on antiques can be surprisingly soft to the touch as well. Compared to Zhuni, Zhuni would be a "cold" smooth, Zisha "warm". Not the right expression, but the closest I can think of...

Thank you for all your replies. The teapot is Si Ting (pear-shaped) that is probably hongni. It is very soft to the touch, silky smooth surface, warm to the touch (compared to other Yixing and Shudei pots), medium walled thickness. I ruled out zhuni because as I understand zhuni is typically thin walled, very tight, dense and wrinkly from shrinkage? This pot doesn’t have those attributes. It does get darker and glows a little when filled with hot water, and tea oils are making it darker after using it to steep LiShan half a dozen times. I also notice when steeping tea a very pleasant aroma of the tea exudes from the hot pot. It seems to pair nicely with high mountain.

I’ve seen pre-F1 Zhuni that felt quite soft to the touch. Also some Chaozhou red clay are quite close to shudei Tokoname clay.

Here’s one of my CZ kettles.

Interesting that you compare CZ to Tokoname Shudei clay. The comparison being that they are both wheel thrown, beyond that are there other similar attributes between the two? None of my Tokoname shudei kyusu are very soft, except a Hakudei (white clay) kyusu which is soft and silky to the touch.

If "soft" is the requirement, then I'd say Benshan Lüni is the "softest". Zhuni is the smoothest, but it has a different "feel" to it? I wouldn't call that soft, more like jade or some well polished stone instead.

However smoothness mainly depends on the mesh size in the first place, and then on the type of clay.

Sorry, realized you were asking for red clays.... However you have to be sure it's the same mesh size, in order to compare different clays. As Bok said, warmer smooth is hongni, while a colder smooth is zhuni.

Yes, this clay doesn’t look to have many particles floating around, except a few very small iron floaters on surface, otherwise the clay is smooth.The next softest smoothest pot I have as a reference is a Hakudei clay by Koudou Studio kiln run by Chitoshi Morita probably from the ‘60-‘70s. But it is not as soft and warm as the red pot in question. For the moment I am admiring it and finding using it a really interesting experience.

[Bok]

I ruled out zhuni because as I understand zhuni is typically thin walled, very tight, dense and wrinkly from shrinkage? This pot doesn’t have those attributes. It does get darker and glows a little when filled with hot water, and tea oils are making it darker after using it to steep LiShan half a dozen times. I also notice when steeping tea a very pleasant aroma of the tea exudes from the hot pot. It seems to pair nicely with high mountain.

Not necessarily. Zhuni can also be medium walled and have no wrinkles at all. Dense and kind of glassy, yes. In any case it feels smooth to the touch, yet with a cold character if that makes sense? Hongi if it is good quality still feels a bit rough (comparatively).

What I found typical is the rapid and obvious colour change when doused in hot water. Pleasant aroma from Gaoshan would also more hint to Zhuni. Does the lid clink against the body when filled with hot water (from the expansion of the clay)?

How is the colour in cold state? Mostly Zhuni is more orangey red, a hongni next to it will look almost brownish. Unless it is DHP Zhuni, which deep red, but you'd probably know by the price tag if it were.

[twta500]

Authentic Yixing teapot?
I bought a Yixing Teapot from a seemingly reputable tea shop in Taipei for about $50 usd. Here are some pictures. Does it look authentic/worth $50? Shop owner says he sourced them himself from China and that they are hand made. I forgot to ask for any details beyond that.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/1ls5x8utc/
https://postimg.cc/2LkgQCTL

[pedant]

Authentic Yixing teapot?
I bought a Yixing Teapot from a seemingly reputable tea shop in Taipei for about $50 usd. Here are some pictures. Does it look authentic/worth $50?

is it actually from yixing area? no clue

the pot seems fine though. i'd use it for sure.

worth $50? maybe a little steep.
but if it's enjoyable to use and makes decent tea, then sure, why not.
here are some other inexpensive pots you can check out if you want: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_nkw=&_ ... nt&_sop=15
i have a jiangponi clay pot from that shop that i like. i think i paid 50-75usd:

Jiangponi clay yixing

jiangponi bianshi yixing.jpg (75.68 KiB) Viewed 7792 times

[Bok]

Authentic Yixing teapot?
I bought a Yixing Teapot from a seemingly reputable tea shop in Taipei for about $50 usd. Here are some pictures. Does it look authentic/worth $50? Shop owner says he sourced them himself from China and that they are hand made. I forgot to ask for any details beyond that.

How do you define if a shop is reputable?

Probably not fully handmade, otherwise it wouldn’t be 50$. Shop keepers in Taiwan like to talk a lot (tea or tea ware), I would take anything said with a huge grain of salt...

Looks fine though. Just use it and see how you like it!

[Tor]

Interesting that you compare CZ to Tokoname Shudei clay. The comparison being that they are both wheel thrown, beyond that are there other similar attributes between the two? None of my Tokoname shudei kyusu are very soft, except a Hakudei (white clay) kyusu which is soft and silky to the touch.

No, I didn’t compare them as being wheel thrown, but I meant their texture are rather close, with CZ clay a bit more rough. As @Youzi said it’s probably more about sieve size than the clay itself. Tokoname hon-shudei from Fugetsu is one of the clay that I feel ‘soft’ to my touch.

[theredbaron]

How did you happen to pair it with black tea? Interesting choice .

Mostly just by size and function.
It s bigger than most of my other teapots, and i usually do not gong fu black tea, and it just felt right.
When i bought it at the flea market it was almost unused, no tea stains or patina yet. I always keep my eyes open at flea markets for Yixing ware that someone brought from a holiday trip to china back in the day, or that was experted to the west, and where people just don't know what it is or how to use it.
I have found once a Factory 1 Hong Ni Shui Ping from the 70's, around 120 or 140 ml in size

[Mark-S]

@theredbaron
Here are the pictures of the set as promised Hopefully, they are detailed enough. I took them with my smartphone.

[Mark-S]

I also bought a similar lid some time ago. I am not sure if it's a fake or not.

--> viewtopic.php?f=19&t=18&p=19608#p19608