KingTeaMall

Guy Juan
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:29 am

I just wanted to give a quick impression on this vendor. I asked a question through kingteamall website and it directed me to the owners FB messenger (John). He was very helpful answering all of my questions and made some suggestions.

I also ordered a yixing pot.

YIXING TEAPOT “SHUI PING HU” (HORIZONTAL POT) AROUND 90CC HUANGLONGSHAN ZHUNI MUD

Apparently it is “modern Zhuni”. Looks very nice and I plan to brew Sheng Puerh in this. I ordered mostly DaYi Shengs and a few Shou puerhs. A few 2007’s , 2008’s , 20015s, 2016s, 2017s and 2018s. Tried to get a ripe for every raw in the same year.

I look forward to trying his teas. I hope they are good because his customer service is awesome!
lopin
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:54 am

I have also this shuiping, arrived yesteday. I have 90ml. Only thing i do not liken is that spout is a bit too tight so pour is not fastest. Great service from john always.
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Baisao
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:40 am

Is this the teapot?

https://www.kingteamall.com/product/yix ... zhuni-mud/

It doesn’t appear to be modern zhuni but something made with additives or “painted” to have a similar color as zhuni. It’s a coin flip whether it’ll make good tea.

I have a painted one that makes perfectly good oolong, though it can’t compare to the lao zhuni I have. In my case the painted zhuni is really only good at darker oolongs like hong shui, whereas the lao zhuni teapot seems to excel at everything. I suspect it is as much clay as craftsmanship that makes the difference.

Shui ping is a reliable shape and true modern zhuni is actually quite nice IMO, despite what snobs say, so long as the craftsmanship is high quality. It’s also become more expensive recently. I don’t think you’ll find it under $300. Perhaps others could weigh in on modern zhuni pricing.

Good luck!
lopin
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:02 am

does not look painted to me. I can not judge about additives, but not painted.
Chadrinkincat
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:22 am

Doesn’t look painted/coated. Clay has quite a few iron dots and looks to me like it’s a coarse mix of different clays w/ iron oxide added.

I’ve actually been eyeing this pot even though I don’t normally buy modern stuff. Overall shape and details looks inspired by 70’s pots.
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pedant
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:23 am

i've heard only good things about KingTeaMall. thanks for sharing your experience
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Baisao
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:39 pm

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:22 am
Doesn’t look painted/coated. Clay has quite a few iron dots and looks to me like it’s a coarse mix of different clays w/ iron oxide added.

I’ve actually been eyeing this pot even though I don’t normally buy modern stuff. Overall shape and details looks inspired by 70’s pots.
Good point about the iron spots. Missed those. But modern zhuni for $65???
Chadrinkincat
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 2:51 pm

Baisao wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:39 pm
Chadrinkincat wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:22 am
Doesn’t look painted/coated. Clay has quite a few iron dots and looks to me like it’s a coarse mix of different clays w/ iron oxide added.

I’ve actually been eyeing this pot even though I don’t normally buy modern stuff. Overall shape and details looks inspired by 70’s pots.
Good point about the iron spots. Missed those. But modern zhuni for $65???
In name only. I wouldn’t bother taking claims of true zhuni serious from just about every vendor out there.
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Bok
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:34 pm

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 2:51 pm

In name only. I wouldn’t bother taking claims of true zhuni serious from just about every vendor out there.
Amen to that.
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aet
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Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:45 pm

Baisao wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:40 am
something made with additives or “painted” to have a similar color as zhuni.
would you share more details please?
how do you determine that?
would you have any link to zhu ni tea pot which is obviously not painted or with some additives please? just to compare and learn.
You seem to be very knowledgeable in this matter, more info would be very useful for community here I believe. Can even start new thread, if don't want to "feed" this one though.

Cheers!
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Baisao
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Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:10 am

aet wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:45 pm
Baisao wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:40 am
something made with additives or “painted” to have a similar color as zhuni.
would you share more details please?
how do you determine that?
would you have any link to zhu ni tea pot which is obviously not painted or with some additives please? just to compare and learn.
You seem to be very knowledgeable in this matter, more info would be very useful for community here I believe. Can even start new thread, if don't want to "feed" this one though.

Cheers!
Hi @aet, I was incorrect about it being “painted”. It appears to me to have a slip or some other form of coating over lighter sand, but it’s difficult to tell when not in hand.

It has been pointed out that there are black specs on the piece indicating iron oxide has precipitated out of the clay. However, black specs appear on the white surface the item sits on too. It could be dust, iron precipitates, or nothing at all. I’ve seen black specks on lao zhuni, contrary to conventional wisdom so it doesn’t always mean iron was added to the clay. Sometimes the oxide precipitates out during firing.

It is late here and lighting is bad so I had to get a photo from a friend. This is closeup of modern zhuni, probably mid 1990s (the form is distorted because of the lens he used):
01200B2B-B853-4E78-BC28-B387C2AA688D.jpeg
01200B2B-B853-4E78-BC28-B387C2AA688D.jpeg (84.16 KiB) Viewed 6392 times
Notice the color saturation and tightness of the clay. Something that does not appear in the photo but is common among high quality modern and lao zhuni is that the color of the clay changes dramatically depending on the wavelength of light, more so than other clays.

The above teapot appears maroon or deeply saturated cinnabar depending upon the light.

HTH
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Bok
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Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:17 am

Baisao wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:10 am
It has been pointed out that there are black specs on the piece indicating iron oxide has precipitated out of the clay. However, black specs appear on the white surface the item sits on too. It could be dust, iron precipitates, or nothing at all. I’ve seen black specks on lao zhuni, contrary to conventional wisdom so it doesn’t always mean iron was added to the clay. Sometimes the oxide precipitates out during firing.
It does indeed! I just happen to lay my hands on a Laozhuni yesterday, which has been heavily warped under very high fire. It has iron spots, a completely differently coloured inside, more purplish-metallic and the the core of the clay is completely black, also known as black bones (you can read up on that on a post by Dr Lu).
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aet
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Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:28 am

Baisao wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:10 am
Notice the color saturation and tightness of the clay. Something that does not appear in the photo but is common among high quality modern and lao zhuni is that the color of the clay changes dramatically depending on the wavelength of light, more so than other clays.

The above teapot appears maroon or deeply saturated cinnabar depending upon the light.

HTH
Ok, thanks for explanation . Im kinda getting it with the black spots, although Im not sure if making some extra coating would be cheap and what purpose it would have to be done? I would incline to the theory of rubbish flying inside of kiln ( I use to make kilns for pottery in previous company )
Actually Im looking at it again and it seems to be like dust on / or inside of the lens . Some black spots are showing up also around the teapot and even blurred out ( coz focusing point and lower aperture ) . I'm keen photographer so have this problem all the time. Could be also dust on the chip of the camera , in that case each time particles are on different position , since flipping mirror is blowing it all over the place. ( the lens dust usually stay in same location )
I do not understand term "tightness of the clay." I'm looking / comparing pictures of your post and KTmall and don't see much difference ( of course color coz light box light temp. W-Ballance ...etc , are different ) . But from looking on the outside texture , except those black dots , I can't see much difference. Yours seems to me more dense in matter of those "grains" on surface, but I believe if taken with same close up lens , the other teapot would show not too less "grains".

Sorry for much bothering, but I'm not too experienced with Yixing pots, since the place of production is bit far from me. But I plan trip there soon.
thanks for understanding
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pedant
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Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:16 pm

aet wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:28 am
Actually Im looking at it again and it seems to be like dust on / or inside of the lens . Some black spots are showing up also around the teapot and even blurred out ( coz focusing point and lower aperture ) . I'm keen photographer so have this problem all the time. Could be also dust on the chip of the camera , in that case each time particles are on different position , since flipping mirror is blowing it all over the place. ( the lens dust usually stay in same location )
to my eye, the iron spots on the pot are real and are not dust artifacts. it is true that there are a few dark spots in the pot's surroundings (which made me do a double take), you can see that the shapes of the spots follow the contour of the pot (slightly deformed due to perspective). the color of the spots also changes along with the pot's surface in a way that's consistent with minor variations in lighting/shadow, and some of the spots even show metallic reflection in highlight areas of the pot. finally, when comparing photos and viewing from different angles, you can find the same spots in the same positions on the surface.
aet wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:28 am
I do not understand term "tightness of the clay." I'm looking / comparing pictures of your post and KTmall and don't see much difference ( of course color coz light box light temp. W-Ballance ...etc , are different ) . But from looking on the outside texture , except those black dots , I can't see much difference. Yours seems to me more dense in matter of those "grains" on surface, but I believe if taken with same close up lens , the other teapot would show not too less "grains".
by tightness, guessing he's referring to localized deformation from shrinkage. in contrast to small grains/grit, this shows more as splotchiness in the texture or as "muscle marks" (resembling "stretch marks"?) in some pots. it's hard to tell from pictures alone, but to me personally, that pot's clay looks more like hongni with added grit than surface effects from extreme shrinkage. carefully compare the surface texture with @Baisao's pic. still not seeing a difference?
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aet
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Sat Jul 20, 2019 8:12 pm

pedant wrote:
Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:16 pm
by tightness, guessing he's referring to localized deformation from shrinkage. in contrast to small grains/grit, this shows more as splotchiness in the texture or as "muscle marks" (resembling "stretch marks"?) in some pots. it's hard to tell from pictures alone, but to me personally, that pot's clay looks more like hongni with added grit than surface effects from extreme shrinkage. carefully compare the surface texture with Baisao's pic. still not seeing a difference?
nope;-( sorry, really have no clue what are you talking about ;-( Would probably have to see those 2 images next to each other and circled around that "deformation from shrinkage" ...like the game ""spot the difference" ;-) ..no seriously, I really don't see much diffrene. I don't pay attention to the color, coz that's variable based on light-box where picture has been taken.
I'm looking at those "grains" and don't see any difference...well, of course they can't be identical, but more or less the same to me.
I isolated disturbance when comparing , by turning to B&W so can focus only on grains. If you can circle out where I should focus on differences please? Of course the bottom of the teapot is more "rough" but outside body , to me at least" seems pretty the same ;-( ( just wet teapot is more glossy )
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