Yixing

[Mark-S]

Mark-S
Because potters add barium carbonate to prevent flower mud

And what does flower mud look like in comparison to mud with added bc? Sorry, I'm no potter.

[OCTO]

I’d like to buy an yixing pot that’s about 80 to 85 ml primarily for brewing young to middle-aged sheng. A modern pot is fine and I prefer simple shapes w/o decoration. I’ve tried reading through this thread and then looking at some of the shops that are mentioned. I end up dazed by all the conflicting claims and wide rangE of Prices.

**I need to avoid becoming a student/collector of yixing as I already have TAD** and the overflowing cabinets to prove it.

A general rule I'd usually follow when asked about pot size is you'll need to have sufficient space for 7g of tea to unfold inside your pot. As for young sheng, I prefer a minimum of 100ml/7g of tea. If you find that 100ml is too big for you, try being 3/4 pot instead of a full pot.

my 2cents....

Cheers!

[pantry]

Mark-S
Because potters add barium carbonate to prevent flower mud

And what does flower mud look like in comparison to mud with added bc? Sorry, I'm no potter.

Ooh, that’s the question for the seniors!
My understanding is that flower mud (just a direct translation of the term in Chinese) refers to a white patch of uneven color on the fired clay. Potters add barium carbonate to prevent that cosmetic flaws. Another way to prevent flower mud is to knead the clay more before making the pot. Something something...someone who knows what they’re talking about please chime in

[steanze]

And what does flower mud look like in comparison to mud with added bc? Sorry, I'm no potter.

Clay without added barium carbonate can have some signs, including darker patches/spots on the interior bottom, on the lid, or darkening around the spout tip. If clay has these signs, it is likely that no barium carbonate was added. However, pots can have no barium carbonate added and none of those signs either.

[Mark-S]

And what does flower mud look like in comparison to mud with added bc?

Ooh, that’s the question for the seniors!
My understanding is that flower mud (just a direct translation of the term in Chinese) refers to a white patch of uneven color on the fired clay. Potters add barium carbonate to prevent that cosmetic flaws. Another way to prevent flower mud is to knead the clay more before making the pot. Something something...someone who knows what they’re talking about please chime in

I remember reading this term on Facebook a couple of times, but I did not understand the meaning. Thanks for the explanation. Personally, I think I'd prefer flower mud, but on the seller's website it sounds more like a flaw.

@steanze

Thanks a lot

[steanze]

I remember reading this term on Facebook a couple of times, but I did not understand the meaning. Thanks for the explanation. Personally, I think I'd prefer flower mud, but on the seller's website it sounds more like a flaw.

steanze

Thanks a lot

Welcome! Yes, well, the name is poetic, but it looks kind of like this:

nobarium.png (470.64 KiB) Viewed 6817 times

but I agree with you, I'd much rather have a pot with that and no barium than a pot with barium.

[pantry]

I remember reading this term on Facebook a couple of times, but I did not understand the meaning. Thanks for the explanation. Personally, I think I'd prefer flower mud, but on the seller's website it sounds more like a flaw.

Yeah, it probably should have been translated as ‘’marred mud”, as the that’s the second meaning of 花 and it makes more sense. Also because seller considers it a flaw it probably makes the pot cheaper

[Mark-S]

@steanze

Good to know how it looks like! I cannot remember seeing this on any pot, but maybe I had mistaken it for being dirt before.

If they are only on the inside I wouldn't care much.

@pantry

Makes more sense

[steanze]

steanze

Good to know how it looks like! I cannot remember seeing this on any pot, but maybe I had mistaken it for being dirt before.

If they are only on the inside I wouldn't care much.

It's seen quite rarely, and on ROC or earlier pots... I personally don't really mind something like that, the clay processing method is more important to me

[Youzi]

@pantry
@Mark-S
The proper term in English is called efflorescence. Which means to flower out.
Flower Mud, Hua Ni can mean other flaws too, not just efflorescence. The term in Chinese is usually translated directly as flower glaze, wind glaze or seal glaze.

One term in Chinese is: 封釉

You can just assume, that everything has Barium in it after 1980, and nothing before it.

Read these articles I wrote to get a better understanding of processing old vs new:

Modern Professing

Traditional Processing

@Janice
The zhuni pot I posted a couple days ago is also from Yann Zisha Gallery.

[Mark-S]

@Youzi

Thanks for the articles

[.m.]

Here's one that doesn't ruin the wallet:
http://2088taiwan.com//index.php?route= ... uct_id=138

Ooh, that’s a reasonable price! Correct me if I’m wrong, but flower mud indicates no traces of Barium Carbonate remained in the clay when made, is that right?

He puts the warning about possible flaws on all pots. It's more of a disclaimer than an indication that the pot exhibits them.
Not sure if Barium Carbonate has ever been added to Niangao clay. Time to do some research...

[Youzi]

Here's one that doesn't ruin the wallet:
http://2088taiwan.com//index.php?route= ... uct_id=138

Ooh, that’s a reasonable price! Correct me if I’m wrong, but flower mud indicates no traces of Barium Carbonate remained in the clay when made, is that right?

He puts the warning about possible flaws on all pots. It's more of a disclaimer than an indication that the pot exhibits them.
Not sure if Barium Carbonate has ever been added to Niangao clay. Time to do some research...

After 1980 Barium. Before 1980, no Barium. Ben's research seem to strongly suggest that. Not sure when is niangao from.

[Balthazar]

After 1980 Barium. Before 1980, no Barium. Ben's research seem to strongly suggest that. Not sure when is niangao from.

Niangao tu is only from the green label period, as far as I know.

Is the 1980-cutoff for barium really that clear? If green label was approximately 1977-1982/3/4 (the precise prioritization is not clear to me), would this mean that pots from "late green label" contains barium whereas earlier green label did not? Or is 1980 more of an approximation?

I'd also like to know if the introduction of barium was "standardized" and rolled out among all factory potters, or if the practice gradually expanded.

Edit: And by the way, thanks for writing and sharing those articles @Youzi. Very useful indeed.

[Youzi]

After 1980 Barium. Before 1980, no Barium. Ben's research seem to strongly suggest that. Not sure when is niangao from.

Niangao tu is only from the green label period, as far as I know.

Is the 1980-cutoff for barium really that clear? If green label was approximately 1977-1982, would this mean that pots from "late green label" (i.e. the last two years) contains barium whereas earlier green label did not? Or is 1980 more of an approximation?

I'd also like to know if the introduction of barium was "standardized" and rolled out among all factory potters, or if the practice gradually expanded.

No not exactly clear, I remember he even found and example from 1979. but after 1980 it was more common. There's really no way to tell if there's barium in the clay or not, unless it has Flower Glaze, but then it won't be sold. The clay which the potters used was made by the Central mining and processing company, not exactly F1 based on what KZ said in his video.

If it's better that way, then you can think that after green label they started adding stuff to the clay. You need to test the pot with EDXRF to tell if there is barium in it or not in it, so it's just better to just go with the worst case scenario and assume there is barium in everything after 1980. It's not like it'll kill you or anything.