Yixing

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steanze
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Tue Oct 10, 2017 12:32 am

Yixing show off topic, please share your wares.

Yixing teapots are very popular for the preparation of Chinese tea, thanks to their effect on the brew and to their aesthetics. However, different Yixing teapots can have different effects on the tea, depending on many properties including clay type, firing temperature, and thickness. Given this variety, pairing Yixing teapots with teas often requires some thought and experimentation. The choice of which Yixing teapot to use depends on the tea we want to brew, and also on what aspects of the tea we want to emphasize in a particular circumstance (for example, I might want to brew the same tea in different ways depending on the weather or on how I am feeling).

In this topic we can share the teapots we use, the teas we pair them with, and why. This can be a helpful starting point for new members who are getting their first yixings, and a source of inspiration for new experiments even for members with more experience and more established habits. Taking inspiration from a topic started by tingjunkie on teachat, posts should include one or more pictures of a teapot you own, and as much as possible of the following information:

- Size of pot in ml or oz.
- Clay type (zhu ni, hong ni, zi ni, duan ni, ...)
- Firing temperature: Low/Med/High fired?
- If the pot is thin-walled, medium, or thick-walled.
- How long is the pour?
- What year/decade the pot was made?
- If known, the craftsman or factory
- What type of tea you make with it?
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Why do you like to brew a certain tea in it, and what does it do for that tea?


* Be advised: Yixing expert members will only comment on pots members actually own.

* Now that the forum is growing and more and more teapots are shared, including some older teapots, please be mindful that the aesthetic norms and concerns at the time in which some teapots were created might differ from those we currently hold. I personally find that a historical approach based on trying to understand why an artisan in the past created a teapot in a particular way is more rewarding than evaluating a teapot only based on our contemporary metrics.
Last edited by steanze on Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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steanze
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Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:14 am

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- Size of pot: 67ml
- Clay type: xiao hongni
- Firing temperature: Med/High fired
- Walls: thin
- Pour speed: ~7 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made? 1960
- If known, the craftsman or factory: Factory 1
- What type of tea you make with it? Yancha
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Why do you like to brew a certain tea in it, and what does it do for that tea? The teapot does a good job at preserving the nuances of the tea.
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Brent D
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Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:50 pm

My most prized pot.
JuLunZhu. The clay is Zhuni, excavated from the Zhauzhuang mine site
- Size of pot: 120ml
- Clay type: Modern Zhuni
- Firing temperature: Med/High fired
- Walls: thin
- Pour speed: ~8 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made? early 2000
- What type of tea you make with it? Gaoshan and light greens
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Very close to porcelain. Mutes some of the creaminess and brings out the high notes.
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steanze
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Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:47 pm

Nice pot! :P
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Brent D
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Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:06 pm

Heres a cutie
- Size of pot: 60ml
- Clay type: hongni
- Firing temperature: Med/High fired
- Walls: thin
- Pour speed: ~12 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made? 60s-Pre 1977
- If known, the craftsman or factory: Factory 1
- What type of tea you make with it? Yancha
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steanze
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Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:55 pm

Nice pot! That is a 1970s F1 hongni sp, pre 1977
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Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:36 am

- Size of pot: 60ml
- Clay type: Hei ni
- ~6s pour
- 80's
- Use it mainly for semi aged puer, have some white tea I find it pairs well with from time to time but don't drink it often enough to dedicate a pot to it
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Mostly mutes high notes, I find it smooths out factory tea that still has a lot of harshness to it, also works well with wetter stored tea but haven't tried enough to have a defined opinion.
Overall it's a nice pot, was relatively cheap, a nice functional pot for solo sessions

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steanze
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Fri Oct 13, 2017 3:29 pm

Nice!
Here are some more pictures of Xu Yuefeng's modern zhuni pot, upon request from Victoria.

- Size of pot: 180ml
- Clay type: Xiao Meiyao modern zhuni
- Firing temperature: Med/High fired
- Walls: thin
- Pour speed: ~11 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made? 2010s
- If known, the craftsman or factory: Xu Yuefeng
- What type of tea you make with it? Green oolongs (mostly Taiwanese)
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Why do you like to brew a certain tea in it, and what does it do for that tea? The thin walls and dense clay make the tea "crisp" and preserve the aroma. The shape and size gives room for the gaoshan oolong leaves to unfold.

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Victoria
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Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:23 pm

You showed me yours, here is mine Stefano.

- Size of pot: 200ml
- Clay type: modern Zhuni, low porosity, notice shrinkage on skin from firing
- Firing temperature: correction- High Fired (not Low fired)
- Walls: Thin
- Pour speed: 12 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made: unknown ? I am still researching this pot so if you know more please share.
- If known, the craftsman or factory: unknown ?
- What type of tea you make with it? Low roast greener oolongs
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Why do you like to brew a certain tea in it, and what does it do for that tea?: Tea is smoother, flavor and aroma accentuated. The bell shape and size allows for leaves to open up nicely.
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steanze
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Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:45 pm

Nice pot Victoria! Thanks for sharing the pictures. Looks like a post 2000 modern zhuni pot. The characters at the base are done to imitate the style of Qing zhuni, but the calligraphy and workmanship indicate that the pot is recent. Why do you say it's low fired? It looks pretty high fired to me :)
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Victoria
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Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:34 pm

steanze wrote:
Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:45 pm
Nice pot Victoria! Thanks for sharing the pictures. Looks like a post 2000 modern zhuni pot. The characters at the base are done to imitate the style of Qing zhuni, but the calligraphy and workmanship indicate that the pot is recent. Why do you say it's low fired? It looks pretty high fired to me :)
From research I've done so far, I'm leaning towards this pot being a custom order from Taiwan in the early 90s. I say low fired because zhuni is low fired to prevent it from exploding in kiln. John Baymore talks about this and how it may look high fired, but that looks can be deceiving. Interesting what you say about the calligraphy though, I'll take a look at this some more. Thanks
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steanze
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Sat Oct 14, 2017 10:02 pm

Got it, low fired with respect to how other clays would be fired. Within the temperature range used for zhuni pots, this seems on the medium to high fired end. :)
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Victoria
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Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:37 pm

Victoria wrote:
Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:34 pm
steanze wrote:
Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:45 pm
Nice pot Victoria! Thanks for sharing the pictures. Looks like a post 2000 modern zhuni pot. The characters at the base are done to imitate the style of Qing zhuni, but the calligraphy and workmanship indicate that the pot is recent. Why do you say it's low fired? It looks pretty high fired to me :)
From research I've done so far, I'm leaning towards this pot being a custom order from Taiwan in the early 90s. I say low fired because zhuni is low fired to prevent it from exploding in kiln. John Baymore talks about this and how it may look high fired, but that looks can be deceiving. Interesting what you say about the calligraphy though, I'll take a look at this some more. Thanks
steanze wrote:
Sat Oct 14, 2017 10:02 pm
Got it, low fired with respect to how other clays would be fired. Within the temperature range used for zhuni pots, this seems on the medium to high fired end. :)
Yes your probably right re firing. It’s pretty close to how my Hokujo Tokoname kyusu feels, although not as slippery to the touch and slightly thicker. Would you call the shape of our pots Bell Shape? Also, regarding calligraphy on bottom, I thought it looked pretty nicely done compared to other ones I’ve seen. Do you by any chance have any examples of older / newer ones, that are similar? I had a file on this but seem to have misplaced it.

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lac63
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Sun Oct 15, 2017 2:04 pm

Lo siento pido disculpas al foro y a Victoria no me he dado cuenta con esta seccion,
y por mi parte he abierto un tema con yixing-puher.
Pronto hare serie de fotografias y subire aqui.

Por cierto magistrales ollas :shock:

Gracias

Saludos

Lluis Abad
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steanze
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Sun Oct 15, 2017 2:42 pm

Victoria wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:37 pm
Would you call the shape of our pots Bell Shape?
I don't remember, I'll check later the paper that came with it to see how they named the shape :)
Victoria wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:37 pm
Also, regarding calligraphy on bottom, I thought it looked pretty nicely done compared to other ones I’ve seen. Do you by any chance have any examples of older / newer ones, that are similar? I had a file on this but seem to have misplaced it.
My comment on the calligraphy was not meant to be about the aesthetics - it does look very nice. Also, I don't have enough knowledge of calligraphy to make a critical assessment of the style. I meant that the type of carving and style of calligraphy does not look like those of Qing pots. Here are a couple of examples:

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