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Since @Baisao mentioned it in another thread... lets talk Taiwanese pots- individual potters and/or factory made pots. I'm always looking for affordable pots and yixing alternatives, so its something I've been occasionally looking into but finding much information in English is trickier.

The only place that jumps into my mind right away for being Western facing is Taiwan Tea Crafts. They have their line of inexpensive clay that covers a pretty broad range of shapes and sizes at this point. They also seem to have built up carrying quite a lot more in the way of handmade and wood-fired and other teaware as well. I haven't had a chance to try anything yet. I don't expect their inexpensive pots to be amazing, but finding inexpensive pots in 100 and sub-100ml sizes on the budget end in clay is very tricky if you don't want cooked 'yixing' dirt, so I can really appreciate they offer that. I am guessing their purple clay is just a coloring agent rather than a different clay, and for that matter maybe there is coloring in the red clay as well? No idea. I might pick something up to try out more just as a way to hit a free shipping mark.

I'm mainly curious about the new old stock Dong Feng/Tong Fon pots they have. I can't really find ANY info in English on these pots- anyone used them before? I asked my friend about them and she did a bit of googling for me and she made it sound like they are pretty inexpensive on Taiwanese ebay type sites, closer to the $30ish area. I didn't really get much detail though so I don't know if that is new or used, production dates, so on. I also don't know if pots like these underwent significant clay changes over time or in different makes like Yixing factory pots.

I've also seen Fu Jiang come up a couple places too, but again prices seem double or higher from Europe/US and I know nothing about these pots.

Oh and of course there is Lin's Ceramics which slipped my mind! I also haven't had a chance to try it but people seem to rave about the Purion clay for certain teas while others seem to really dislike its effects.

Another place that tends to stock taiwanese teapots is Song Tea. They have quite the markup due to needing to pay rent in San Fransisco, but I've enjoyed what I got from them despite that.

Very happy to see a thread on Taiwanese teaware!

I just confirmed an order through Bok to get a wood fired teapot by Peter Kuo. I think Peter sells his pots through daqian:

https://daqiantw.com

It seems Peter has his own special blend of Taiwanese mud and uses interesting glaze on the outside. I am very much looking forward to using this pot for roasted taiwanese oolong.

I've had bad experience with TTC porcelain, which turned me off of getting any more teaware from them. It seems they also sell some wood fired work that is a bit less expensive.

I have a purion pot and a purion infuser mug. I feel the purion adds a kind of mineral like sweet flavor that boosts stamina to cheaper every day bao zhong. But purion seems pretty bad for just about everything else (to me).

@LeoFox you got any pictures of the pot headed your way?

karma wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 1:38 pm

LeoFox you got any pictures of the pot headed your way?

It was from this sale:
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=969

This link above has some pictures.

Luckily for me, the sale was closed at the time due to lack of interest, allowing me to take the deal today.

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 2:30 pm

It was from this sale:
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=969

This link above has some pictures.

Luckily for me, the sale was closed at the time due to lack of interest, allowing me to take the deal today.

Always thought that was a very nice set. Good for you in getting them.

More information about Peter Kuo:

His own website link is below:
https://peterkuo.weebly.com

GTH article about his journey as a potter is linked below. Heartwarming to read about how he works together with his wife to keep their wood kiln going continuosly during the long firing process; the teapots are really like their children. The article mentions 4 days of firing. I have heard his pots are fired for at least 7 days.

http://archive.globalteahut.org/article/972

Old tea chat thread in which Bok and Petr Novak give high praise for his craftsmanship:

https://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=20097

Those side handle kyusu made of tree branches or bones remind me of 12th c. prosthetics .

Victoria wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:38 pm

Those side handle kyusu made of tree branches or bones remind me of 12th c. prosthetics .

Below is from the GTH article I linked to above regarding the side handles:

A larger, constant theme influencing the way Peter approaches the making of sidehandle teapots is the concept of karma, of cause and effect. He strongly views each teapot as a seed planted into fertile soil, to grow and become a tree rooted deeply in time and space.

Peter never forces the connection between the body of the teapot and its handle. He will sometimes wait weeks or months to find the perfect marriage of the elements - of Tree and Mountain. He says that sometimes he finds two pieces that immediately "want" to be together. In such moments, a tangible magic can be felt. 

Peter hikes all throughout Taiwan, finding wood on the beach, in the mountains and forests, and sometimes bamboo, from throughout Taiwan and even Japan. He showed us a huge box of wood he has collected over the years, saying that most of the pieces won't work on a pot. "It is hard to balance a piece of wood onto a pot, since you don't have much control over the shape or angle - other than turning the wood this way or that," he says with a smile. "I try to not carve or shape the wood much, just working a bit with it. Instead, I look for pieces that will work naturally."

He says, "Now I simply wait for the wood to come to me. I do not strive for pieces that are beautiful. It is often the ones that aren't beautiful that make great handles, and the ones we are attracted to that don't work functionally."

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 12:25 pm

I've had bad experience with TTC porcelain, which turned me off of getting any more teaware from them. It seems they also sell some wood fired work that is a bit less expensive.

I'm curious, if you care to share, what the issue was.

wave_code wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 3:25 pm

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 12:25 pm

I've had bad experience with TTC porcelain, which turned me off of getting any more teaware from them. It seems they also sell some wood fired work that is a bit less expensive.

I'm curious, if you care to share, what the issue was.

PM’d you

Here are two other taiwanese potters that have been profiled by GTH:

Luo Shi (羅石):
http://archive.globalteahut.org/article/974

Deng Ding Sou:
http://archive.globalteahut.org/article/462


Also:
Fang Chi Wen:
I believe this artist is Bok's teacher

https://instagram.com/attic_pottery1959 ... 013hezos2e

There was and is a lot of them around in Taiwan, a lot has just jumped on the train of the wood fire craze a couple of years/decades ago. Most of it is too thick and not well made though. I think at the origins it must have been inspired by Japanese Bizen ware as the ties with Japan have been historically close.

Bok wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 6:34 pm

There was and is a lot of them around in Taiwan, a lot has just jumped on the train of the wood fire craze a couple of years/decades ago. Most of it is too thick and not well made though. I think at the origins it must have been inspired by Japanese Bizen ware as the ties with Japan have been historically close.

Can we see some of your work?

Well, technically only made IN Taiwan, not Taiwanese pottery per as

Those are my last pieces before I went into pottery hibernation - and the only ones which I’d say were starting to get to an acceptable level for me. The others fell into aforementioned category: too thick!