Yixing

[Bok]

Hello people!
I’ve got an idea and can’t let it go for quite a some time, so decided to discuss it here. What if a teapot was used hard and was left neglected, or served as an ink reservoir and looks really messy, totally black and greasy inside and soaked with ink flow traces outside heavily, how to clean it properly? Bleach?
Somehow, it puts me off, knowing that some components can get into pores and stay there as carbonates/calcites.
So I’m thinking (theoretically yet) about “refreshing firing” in electric kiln - from my experience 600C is enough for all organic residues to burn out. And yet it’s far from level of temperature that can affect clay or shape. Of course, it must be processed slowly and in closed clay saggar to prevent any kiln atmosphere interaction with vintage Yixing.

Any thoughts?

Don't want to shock anyone - I'm just thinking from a maker's perspective and an important part of vintage/Yixing teaware works as education for me, in which I see marks of techniques and experience of craftsmen of the past applied. And sometimes I think technically, looking at Yixing pot as a piece of stoneware of a specific kind.

I would be worried that whatever was in the and on the clay would be sort of "burned into" the clay, making it impossible to separate later on.

But fear do not – the classic sodium percarbonate wash gets rid of ink quite easily. Rinse - repeat, a few times, prolongued soak to let other stuff slowly come out (hot and let cool down and soak for a day, repeat), separate citric acid soaks, a good scrubbing with mildly abrasives sponges. It is just time and effort, but I have done it many times and used the pots to tell the tale. If it is not acrylics or other chemical colours it is fine to clean.

[OCTO]

I would agree with both @steanze and @Bok.

On the other hand, personally, I would continue to use it as an ink reservoir, with the intention of preserving it's historical journey and also to exhibit the creative usages of a Yixing pot by our seniors before us. Even if it's a master's pot or an artisan's pot.... IMO, it should be left as it is.... more so if it carries significant historical value. It will be "one of its kind" ... hahahaha ....

Just like how I would continue using my cracked early ROC pot as a flower pot for my miniature plants.

Cheers!!

[Bok]

Just like how I would continue using my cracked early ROC pot as a flower pot for my miniature plants.

Oh noooo... !
Imagine the possibilities

[OCTO]

Just like how I would continue using my cracked early ROC pot as a flower pot for my miniature plants.

Oh noooo... !
Imagine the possibilities

all imaginable possibilities in your wildest dreams... hahahahaha.....

[i_viter]

Appreciate your answer @steanze, as it relates to specially developed techniques for a proper restoration.

Hello people!
I’ve got an idea and can’t let it go for quite a some time, so decided to discuss it here. What if a teapot was used hard and was left neglected, or served as an ink reservoir and looks really messy, totally black and greasy inside and soaked with ink flow traces outside heavily, how to clean it properly? Bleach?
Somehow, it puts me off, knowing that some components can get into pores and stay there as carbonates/calcites.
So I’m thinking (theoretically yet) about “refreshing firing” in electric kiln - from my experience 600C is enough for all organic residues to burn out. And yet it’s far from level of temperature that can affect clay or shape. Of course, it must be processed slowly and in closed clay saggar to prevent any kiln atmosphere interaction with vintage Yixing.

Any thoughts?

Don't want to shock anyone - I'm just thinking from a maker's perspective and an important part of vintage/Yixing teaware works as education for me, in which I see marks of techniques and experience of craftsmen of the past applied. And sometimes I think technically, looking at Yixing pot as a piece of stoneware of a specific kind.

I would be worried that whatever was in the and on the clay would be sort of "burned into" the clay, making it impossible to separate later on.

But fear do not – the classic sodium percarbonate wash gets rid of ink quite easily. Rinse - repeat, a few times, prolongued soak to let other stuff slowly come out (hot and let cool down and soak for a day, repeat), separate citric acid soaks, a good scrubbing with mildly abrasives sponges. It is just time and effort, but I have done it many times and used the pots to tell the tale. If it is not acrylics or other chemical colours it is fine to clean.

Thank you @Bok! Then sodium it is, I totally trust your experience.
About getting stuff "burned into" clay - again, technically it will fully burn out and release anything organic if firing is done properly and carefully (if temperature is higher than organic burnout and lower than mineral melting starts). But let's leave that as just theory for now

And thank you @OCTO! Your reply leads us to more of a philosophical part of the whole question - and I like that point of view too.

Cheers everyone!!!

[Bok]

@i_viter You are welcome, hope it works out for you! I have had some pots fired again, but that was more to get underfired clays up to a usable standard. It is not without its dangers and pitfalls to consider, but if it works and the teaware survives, it can yield amazing results. As a potter yourself you are of course in the very best position to experiment on that!

[DailyTX]

Just like how I would continue using my cracked early ROC pot as a flower pot for my miniature plants.

That’s a very creative idea. I remember you showed us a terrarium long time ago. What do you do with the lids

[i_viter]

i_viter You are welcome, hope it works out for you! I have had some pots fired again, but that was more to get underfired clays up to a usable standard. It is not without its dangers and pitfalls to consider, but if it works and the teaware survives, it can yield amazing results. As a potter yourself you are of course in the very best position to experiment on that!

Thanks again. Yeah, there's a vast field for experiments, but one has to be careful about getting too far. I keep in mind an ethical attitude to things of old times and the way they have been made. But, your words about making "raw" teapots more convenient for tea brewing have caught me too (I know what you're talking about - seen those pots with more earth than ceramic texture and feeling).
I've almost finished a small wood-firing kiln and maybe, well, if I get something suitable for such a "fire rebirth" - that can be interesting.

[WhisperingFrog192]

Check out this thrift store find! Gonna sodium percarbonate it and then see how it performs.

[.m.]

@WhisperingFrog192 nice find! not even chipped. might be a bit underfired but that is usual.

[Blackbird_msk]

New pot, seal by 湯伯明製 [Tang Baiming zhi]. Medium-fired clay, volume 110 ml. Matte, smooth surface, made with the help of a mold, probably. Do you have any ideas about clay, what could it be?

[Bok]

New pot, seal by 湯伯明製 [Tang Baiming zhi]. Medium-fired clay, volume 110 ml. Matte, smooth surface, made with the help of a mold, probably. Do you have any ideas about clay, what could it be?

I wouldn't call it matte, more like satin ; )

Clay looks like some sort of Zhusha/Pearskin Zhuni. Different names for the same thing: Zhuni(possibly) with some coarser bits blended in for this particular look.

[i_viter]

Good day, people!
Just wondering - does anybody know something about this book or own it - is it worth having on a shelf? Is it any representative of the classics of Yixing pots and informative anyhow, or more a kind of a vintage photo-album with various purple clay teapots?

[i_viter]

Let me show my update on the teapot cleaning - it arrived recently and to my release, it appeared not so dirty as I thought.
Seems it was used as a water dropper for calligraphy so minor ink stains were only on the outside, along with mineral scale residues from around the lid opening and on the edge of the spout. The concentrated soda bath and toothbrush scrub worked well, so I got this nice (as I see it) Zini pot clear and ready for developing its puerh patina!
Its 130ml capacity works well for two cups at a brew - for me and a guest.
I love the workmanship quality and suppose it's from the mid-70s - would love to hear your thoughts.

[.m.]

Very nice!