Yixing

[Bok]

It would likely cost you more to have this professionally fixed than it would to just buy a mint replacement pot.

Adding a squirrel? That will cost a pretty penny!

How much money are you talking about? I don't think that a tiny squirrel could cost that much. I would be satisfied with a mediocre restauration. It does not have to look exactly as before.

surely a couple of 100$. It is a one off, needs to be done by hand, fired and attached. Etc. Not cheap. And if you want it done in Yixing clay, you need to add shipping and handling costs. Apart from that you'll need to find someone doing that in the first place. I'd rather leave as is and make sure your pot is actually authentic and worth the repair in the first place... which is tough with these ornamented pots as replicas abound and not many experts are discussing these openly. There is a reason Dr Lu limited the group to the early and simple designs, the later stage is getting really complicated and fakes mulitply.

[Mark-S]

@Bok
All right, thanks for your answer. Now, I got two options:

- Hire a kintsugi artist to repair it (it's possible but maybe very expensive http://tsugi.de/image/sample/diverse/pr ... inks-1.jpg)
- Sand the remaining clay down so it does not look like something is missing/broken

I will most likely go for the second option and see if it still bothers me. Maybe I will even find a mint replacement pot in the meantime. But that's very unlikely.

[Mark-S]

Regarding these fakes... when I find a seller who tells me that he bought the teapot in the 70s or earlier, can I be sure that this teapot is from F1? (assuming the seller is trustworthy) When have they started to fake F1 pots?

[Bok]

Regarding these fakes... when I find a seller who tells me that he bought the teapot in the 70s or earlier, can I be sure that this teapot is from F1? (assuming the seller is trustworthy) When have they started to fake F1 pots?

Memory can be deceptive... I wouldn't take this kind of statement in serious from anyone, including friends and family members. What should be your focus is the item itself, not the story behind. I might be wrong, but I think most replicas and fakes were made in the 90s onwards, when the markets opened. So if your pot is a fake it is more likely 90s onwards.

[Bok]

Adding that a vast range of pots that are not F1 are from F2, they started in the 80s if I remember right. Easily mistaken by the novice as they look similar on a superficial level. But they always get some details wrong or are clumsy and disproportionate.

[Mark-S]

@Bok
You are right. It's too vague to rely on somebody's memory. Most private sellers are wrong about the age, and I don't think they are all liars.

What I noticed from the fake Zini F1 pots I bought is that the clay often is very bad, and some of them also have a high-pitched sound when struck (carefully). Zini should not sound high-pitched, right? The only fake teapot with great clay (Hongni) was the one from the set I posted lately.

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I have read this comment by Chilin Lu in the Facebook group and thought that this might interest some of you. Hopefully, it's allowed to take screenshots of the comments (?).

[Bok]

@Mark-S Zini can be high fired as well, I got one that rings like glass and is almost as thin as Zhuni!

F2 is likely to have not so nice clay, 90s and later might look good to the unsuspecting eye.

[Bok]

I have read this comment by Chilin Lu in the Facebook group and thought that this might interest some of you. Hopefully, it's allowed to take screenshots of the comments (?).

As to this... I am aware of it. It rest a hotly debated topic even among collectors. I've asked him the question myself once and the reply was pretty much the above. On the other I also know collectors with considerable expertise who insist that there are and have examples to back it up – so I do not really know.

Often it is a regional thing: The Taiwanese say no, the SEA's say yes, the Thai guy says "I don't know what this is, it's not polished" Excuse the politically totally incorrect and generalising joke

[Youzi]

@Mark-S
@Bok
Interesting, if Zhaozhuang zhuni is after 90s, then where did the zhuni in Qing / ROC came from? ( ignoring the fact, that antique zhuni is usually mixed)

[Balthazar]

Memory can be deceptive... I wouldn't take this kind of statement in serious from anyone, including friends and family members. What should be your focus is the item itself, not the story behind. I might be wrong, but I think most replicas and fakes were made in the 90s onwards, when the markets opened. So if your pot is a fake it is more likely 90s onwards.

This reminds me of the unused, "complete set" (large pot and cups) my mother-in-law gifted us a couple of years ago. She recalled to have bought it personally in Yixing during a business trip in the early 90s. Since it was so nicely packed in the original box, (and since opening and inspecting a gift with a critical eye in front of the gifter can be pretty unseemly) I didn't dare to have a look until we returned to Norway, and was very careful to keep it secure during our flight. When we opened the box back in Norway, it was immediately clear that this was a low-quality (probably dangerous to use) set, the type of thing you typically see at street markets. My wife insisted on telling her mom (in a teasing way), but the latter does not believe it could possibly be a fake.

I've actually forgotten how the set and package looks, maybe I'll try to dig it up (we keep it in our basement) and post some pictures.

[Baisao]

Yes i do. Your's look promising. . Need more detailed photos.

Sounds great. For some reason, I got more luck with these decorated ones. Here are four more pictures.

About 10-15 years ago you could buy these pots in museum gift shops across the U.S. for $15-$45 dollars. Same with the other plant-themed pots I've seen here recently. They are modern and use doped clays. I certainly would pass on these.

[steanze]

Mark-S
Bok
Interesting, if Zhaozhuang zhuni is after 90s, then where did the zhuni in Qing / ROC came from? ( ignoring the fact, that antique zhuni is usually mixed)

I think he might be saying that most modern zhuni is not from zhaozhuang...

To my knowledge:
1) F1 made no zhuni pots.
2) Qing/ROC zhuni came from Zhaozhuang
3) most modern zhuni comes from Xiaomeiyao or Huanglongshan (although some still comes from zhaozhuang)
4) antique zhuni is sometimes mixed, but sometimes it is pure. When it is "mixed", it is mixed with other clay/sand to make it more resistant to shrinkage, but not with iron oxide or other chemicals.

[alejandro2high]

Hey everyone. I hope you're all having a nice day.

So, I bought this vintage Ju Lun Zhu, and the spout was a little wonky. I decided to use a file to try and get it looking better. My perception is gone from working on it so much, so I can no longer judge whether it looks even/good. What do y'all think?

[Mark-S]

About 10-15 years ago you could buy these pots in museum gift shops across the U.S. for $15-$45 dollars. Same with the other plant-themed pots I've seen here recently. They are modern and use doped clays. I certainly would pass on these.

What makes you think that my teapot is a modern knockoff and not a F1 pot from the early 80s?

[pantry]

Hey everyone. I hope you're all having a nice day.

So, I bought this vintage Ju Lun Zhu, and the spout was a little wonky. I decided to use a file to try and get it looking better. My perception is gone from working on it so much, so I can no longer judge whether it looks even/good. What do y'all think?

Looks great to me!