Biandeng, opinions

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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:32 am

Dear all,

So after all this talking about yixing and whatnot, I decided against my earlier convictions to jump down the rabbit hole… Got me this pot in the attachments.

The pot is supposedly vintage/old but I am not sure how old, so I am hoping for the combined knowledge of the tea cloud!

Volume is 70-80ml ish, unused, so there is a sort of clay smell inside, but not unpleasant. The pot seems shiny on some of the images but it is actually not.

Clay looks to my half-trained eyes like hongni inside out, what kind of hongni is another part of my question? There are small dots visible on the surface, so that would point to an Factory period pot if I am not misstaken… Dr. Lu writes as much on his facebook group. On another old thread I stumbled about Jia Zi Ni, a special black-dotted Pin Zi Ni used during early-80's in Factory-1? Never heard of it before and culd not find other references to it.

Workmanship seems fine to me, lid wiggles a bit, but nothing too loose ( :mrgreen: ) Small traces of tools and other tiny faults. Single hole. Pour-speed is about 5-6 seconds with tea in it. Did not have much time to brew in it, but so far I could not remark any mutening effect. Lid even allows aroma appreciation, which does not work with my usual woodfired Taiwanese pots.

On the firing I am not so sure, walls are not thin, not thick I would say. Lid makes a nice ring but certainly not a high ring! Overall the clingclingclang-sound it makes when handled empty, for lack of better description, feels nice.

Seal is difficult to decipher, me and native speakers I asked could not really read it. Not Zhongguoyixing in any case.

Any hints are appreciated, thanks!
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:34 am

The real colour is closed to the images of the underside of the pot and lid, more red than orange/brown.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:35 am

More images
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steanze
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:41 am

Nice pot. Looks like 1980s green label. The seal is the typical 6 characters hui meng chen, some versions were used in the 50s and 60s, this version is used in the 80s.
Chadrinkincat
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:58 am

Is this pot zini coated with red inside out? It looks like there are some brush marks.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:03 am

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:58 am
Is this pot zini coated with red inside out? It looks like there are some brush marks.
Might be the pictures, on closer inspection I can not see brushmarks, where did you see them?

Has this been done? Inside out coating?
I was only aware of the neiziwaihong-method.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:08 am

steanze wrote:
Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:41 am
Nice pot. Looks like 1980s green label. The seal is the typical 6 characters hui meng chen, some versions were used in the 50s and 60s, this version is used in the 80s.
Thanks!

One thing I was wondering with older pots: did they ever made larger handles!?

My hands are really too large for all the older pots I handled so far... need to practise my alternative holding method, more used to the one finger in the handle, one on the lid knob.
Last edited by Bok on Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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steanze
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:10 am

Usually the handle size is relative to the size of the pot, larger pots around ~160ml have larger handles, but on smaller pots the handles are usually pretty small :)
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:12 am

Another thing occurred to me: wouldn’t the coating be applied by dipping the pot into the thinned clay, rather than by using a brush? The way a glazing would have been applied. Makes more sense from a potters point of view and quicker as well and more uniform in appearance.

There were even makeshift mouth-operated airbrush tools, though not sure if available in Yixing at the time?
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:42 am

Yes F1 coated pots inside/out. I think Emmett posted one on FB awhile back. It was confirmed as green label period. I think they did both dipping and brushing of red for these pots. Though this info came from internet sources so it could easily be wrong.

Bottom , top part of side and rim look like it has brush lines. It could easily just be texture of clay though.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:04 pm

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:42 am
Yes F1 coated pots inside/out. I think Emmett posted one on FB awhile back. It was confirmed as green label period. I think they did both dipping and brushing of red for these pots. Though this info came from internet sources so it could easily be wrong.

Bottom , top part of side and rim look like it has brush lines. It could easily just be texture of clay though.
Interesting! Guess it would need an expert and up-close inspection to confirm what it really is…

In the meantime I have been brewing a few different teas in it (Dongding, Dongfang Black Lishan and greener Lishan: No muting effect that I can detect. What surprises me is how I can smell aromas of the tea from the closed pot! Also the Lishan which normally does not give of much fragrance in a dry state in the preheated pot seems to do so in this pot. That might actually also have to do with the geometry of the pot, nonetheless noticeable.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:14 pm

Are Neiziwaihong also found in as many different shades of red as fully hongni made pots? The ones I have seen so far, all seem to be more on the orangey-red side.
Teachronicles
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Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:40 am

Bok, did you get this from emmett?
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Bok
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Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:48 am

Teachronicles wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:40 am
Bok, did you get this from emmett?
No, locally purchased in Taiwan! Wouldn’t make sense for me to buy from the US if I have it at my doorstep. Just more tricky to wade through the fakes, too many other people looking for this stuff here. Although most are after the real treasures. F1 seems not to be in great demand with the local audience, maybe too prevalent.
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Bok
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Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:50 am

But you are right, he had a biandeng a week ago, but that was a Zini clay one.
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