Yixing

[TeaTotaling]

@alejandro2high I will be experimenting with this same question in mind. Comparing clay quality of modern Zini with antique Zini, and modern Hongni with antique Red Clay. I have no comparison for 80's Duanni, and I have no desire to acquire a modern version. I would however like to acquire Qing Duanni in the future, for comparison.

Of the modern listings you mentioned, I believe Wuxing Shan Fang Studio would be producing high quality teapots with high quality clay. Maybe the best modern offerings, I have discovered, through my research.

[Jules_Ludwig]

Of the modern listings you mentioned, I believe Wuxing Shan Fang Studio would be producing high quality teapots with high quality clay. Maybe the best modern offerings, I have discovered, through my research.

I agree. The clay quality is very good, even the less expensive ones are quite nice. My Zini pot from this studio works pretty well with Pu-Erh.

[Mark-S]

While living in Taiwan has its tea benefits there are some very reputable vendors in the EU like die Kunst des Tees out of Berlin, Kwon Ying von Beuningen sells very high quality oolong. Also, you can look through our thread Online Tea Vendors dispatching from within the EU (European Union).

Thanks for the advice. I buy my tea from puretea.de, but I'll definitely check out the vendors you mentioned.

[TeaTotaling]

Of the modern listings you mentioned, I believe Wuxing Shan Fang Studio would be producing high quality teapots with high quality clay. Maybe the best modern offerings, I have discovered, through my research.

I agree. The clay quality is very good, even the less expensive ones are quite nice. My Zini pot from this studio works pretty well with Pu-Erh.

Glad to hear!! I have done thorough research with the tools at my disposal here in the West, and they were my personal choice. I am still waiting for mine to arrive. It will be nice to finally sit down and experience for myself. Looking forward to it!

[TeaTotaling]

@Youzi Brilliant! Yes indeed. I do like this particular variation, it has grown on me. I don't see many of these around. Hopefully the clay doesn't disappoint.

[pantry]

@alejandro2high
@TeaTotaling

I'm looking forwards to your experiments! I'm on the modern camp as I lack the knowledge to go vintage. The only older pot I have is an L80sE90s F1 Hongni, so it's unfair to compare. Frankly I contemplate moving over to Japanese clays as pricing seems more sensible

[OCTO]

What's worth looking for is a 3Friend with golfball filter from the 70s era. They don't come by very often.

When you wrote this I thought that all 3 Friends pots from the 70s era would have a golfball filter. However, I bought another of these pots recently and it does not have a golfball filter. I am pretty sure it's from the green label era though. The seller told me he bought this pot more than 40 years ago and the clay looks similar to some of my pots from this era. So I wonder why you said to look for a pot with a golfball filter. Could you please explain this?

@Mark-S

The second pot you bought, does it have a 5 holes or 6 holes filter?

That's very much a personal preference from my past experiences in collecting 文革 or Cultural Revolution Era pots. Together with my group of collector buddies, we found that golfball filter started as early as the 60s and also found in the 70s and 80s green label era. You will have a higher chance of getting a 70s pot rather than a 70s/80s pot. There are various school of thoughts regarding the golfball filter... just like anything associated with Yixing teapots, it's one man's believes against another man's understanding. Some say the golfball filter came in the 80s..... I have seen golfball filters as early as in pots from the 60s (verified by a combination of criteria based on workmanship, clay colour, artistic strength, hand strokes and hand-feel... then only comes the seal and filter). Made common in the 70s early in the green label era. Do keep in mind that the green label spans from late 70s to early 80s. Therefore there is a very fine line and a big grey area when trying to identify 70s green label or 80s green label... and the green sticker is not one of the main criterion.

it's good to see that you have allocated budget to get in your hands as many pots as you can. It is actually the fastest way to learn, but a costly one. Nothing beats learning about the pots when you have them in your hands. Photos are never accurate no matter how you adjust your white balance, ISO or saturation.

my 2cents worth.... cheers!!

[OCTO]

To sum up, I think some modern pots can be reasonable tools to make tea, and there are also some modern pots that are artistically valuable. However, the artistically valuable ones are extremely expensive and tend to be too large. The other ones often not only fail on criteria 3 and 4 (that's fine), but also tend to be inferior as tools to make tea to antique teapots because of clay processing and firing, and as aesthetically pleasing objects because of their lack of individuality. Can there be a modern pot that is functional, made of good clay processed in the traditional way, is not tacky, and has some individuality? That is, a modern pot that aces criteria 1 and 2? In principle yes, in practice, I have not seen many examples.

@steanze

Awesome write up! +1

[OCTO]

OCTO How many ml is your lovely 80's Duanni pot?

@TeaTotaling

It's about 150cc.... As a matter of fact, it's too small for PuErh. I bought this pot due to the rarity of the DuanNi and workmanship that came with this pot.

Cheers!!

[steanze]

steanze

Awesome write up! +1

Thank you

[Mark-S]

@OCTO

My pot has a 7 hole filter.

Personal preference because you like golfball filters better or because they are easier to authenticate? I also prefer them, but what I don't like about them is that there is always some tea left in the pot. It's a design flaw in my opinion.

Nah! I have not payed much money on most of my pots, don't worry. It's still tolerable, and I have already learned a lot.

[pantry]

@steanze

Would you consider this modern pot pass criteria 2, 3, and 4?

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/cont ... r-23/67036

Edit: link

[steanze]

steanze

Would you consider this modern pot pass criteria 2, 3, and 4?

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/cont ... r-23/67036

Edit: link

I am not sure if it passes 2 and 3. The work requires very high skill, but I am not convinced there is an interesting artistic idea there. It's a bit like photorealistic drawing - impressive, but what does it communicate?

[Youzi]

steanze

Would you consider this modern pot pass criteria 2, 3, and 4?

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/cont ... r-23/67036

Edit: link

One thing sure is that it already has historically value. It's a milestone in contemporary designs, and you can see the impact already today.

I wasn't that much impressed by it, because I like older designs more. I don't like contemporary painters neither.

I also had the same idea as Steanze, that its just a 3D drawing, But after I learned that it's a snail, I was quite amazed by it. I like that it's not so obvious and you have to think about the design... So it was my fault of quickly dismissing it.

[Chadrinkincat]

@Mark-S

An example of a LQER neizhiwaihong pot.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/142937832 ... 0027295326