Yixing

[Mark-S]

The reason you see them often in auctions is because the real ones are rare and command high prices, so they are commonly faked and the fakes become a common sight. Not affordable for commoners - if they are authentic

There are Facebook groups that sell genuine pots (not for little money) and some pots pop up more often than others. That's what I've meant. For example, the huge pots that some of you use to heat up water. Or these cups (screenshot attached). I think that these pots were made more often because they were more popular in the average population and easier to produce.

Not affordable for commoners? That's a bummer! I hoped to find a pot like this some day. They are so beautiful...

[Mark-S]

I doubt you can replicate the same look, JB weld cures much faster and you might not be able to remove excess with turpentine as one can do with urushi. In addition, there is an aesthetic aspect to using traditional methods, much like there is an aesthetic aspect to using old teapots even if they may have some more imperfections than a newly made pot. These are just my personal preferences though, not a general rule My recommendation would be to buy a kintsugi kit and try to fix the lid with the traditional method. Not much to do about the body short of sending it to a professional.

I agree, I would not pay those amounts for that pot either, but I would not pay even $50 to buy one that's fixed with glue. Assuming you paid $50-100 for this damage one, you could get a kintsugi kit from Japan for about $100 (there are also low-allergenic ones) and fix the lid well. Plus you can use the kit to fix several pieces.

I thought that replacing missing parts with real Kintsugi would be more pricey. Since I've already bought JB Weld I will use this to practice a bit on some of my bad pots and broken bowls. Maybe, if I like my skills but not the JB Weld I'll buy a kit from Japan. Thanks for the advice.

[DailyTX]

Mark-S if it were so common it wouldn’t be expensive, would it? The fakes are plentiful though…

With common I mean you see this shape a lot in auctions (not: common = cheap). I don't know the prices of F1 pots in China.

These pots are not that common, for example. At least where I live.

Just curious if anyone seen a 靈豹壺 for sale in the last few years? Maybe it’s just me, I only see them from other collectors. For me, that’s rare
Here is a link if people are curious what that is
https://m.taohuren.com/zishahu/6612.html

[Mark-S]

Just curious if anyone seen a 靈豹壺 for sale in the last few years? Maybe it’s just me, I only see them from other collectors. For me, that’s rare
Here is a link if people are curious what that is
https://m.taohuren.com/zishahu/6612.html

Yeah, this one is pretty rare. I've only seen a few of them so far. In 2015 was one for sale... for about $1000 (today's exchange rate). Is this pot from the 90's?

[DailyTX]

@Mark-S
I would imagine it would cost 1k+ for an authentic pot of this rarity now days.

[Chadrinkincat]

Bok Don't you think that JB Weld would work? It's not that easy... but I think I could do this with some practice. A repair with brass/silver/gold would be very expensive and I couldn't do this myself.

I'd mix JB Weld (transparent) with wheat flour to fill the gaps and later apply another layer with JB Weld and golden food coloring. But I would try this first with trashy pots.

From my perspective, fixing it with glue would just ruin the pot. I'd rather keep it with the chips so it can be fixed properly in the future. More generally, if there's a broken pot for sale and I think it is too expensive to fix it properly, either I'm happy with how it is for study purposes, or I'd rather wait for one in better condition. Better to have 10 good pots than 50 pots that all have some problem or other...

This has slowly become my preference too. I have limited tolerance for visual damage unless it it something I plan to have professionally fixed at some point. That zhuni pot I just picked up is a good example of something worth getting repaired while most of my late 70-90’s pots aren’t worth it for me.

[czarzly]

Hi everyone,
I recently bought (what seems to be) old yixing clay teapot from a garage sale.
The outside of the teapot is in perfect condition but the inside seems to crumble a bit at the bottom. If I rub my finger on some spots I feel clay grains.

Does that means that the teapot is not Yixing? Can I still use it to brew tea or should I keep it as a decoration piece?

Here are some photos of it, I hope you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks a lot!

[steanze]

Hi everyone,
I recently bought (what seems to be) old yixing clay teapot from a garage sale.
The outside of the teapot is in perfect condition but the inside seems to crumble a bit at the bottom. If I rub my finger on some spots I feel clay grains.

Does that means that the teapot is not Yixing? Can I still use it to brew tea or should I keep it as a decoration piece?

Here are some photos of it, I hope you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks a lot!

Hi,

This is not Yixing, and it is modern. I would not use it to make tea.

However, this has nothing to do with whether or not it feels grainy when you rub your finger on it - there's smooth Yixing and grainy Yixing. Whether or not if feels grainy is not an indicator of whether or not it is genuine Yixing.

I hope you have better luck with the next purchases! I recommend starting from simple shapes and looking closely at the color and texture of pots on this thread and at how people talk about them.

[Mark-S]

@czarzly

I remember you from the Facebook group The Facebook group is good in identifying marks, but the members here have more knowledge when it comes to Yixing pots. And yeah, this pot is definitely modern.

@steanze

It's normal that a pot feels grainy or smooth on the inside, but it should not crumble. At least not after an initial cleaning. If it still crumbles I think it's bad firing... or what's your opinion on that?

[czarzly]

@steanze Thanks for replying.
I enjoy the art of the teapot and it wasn't so expensive so I'm ok with just using it as a nice decoration. I have a proper modern yixing clay teapots to use for tea.

How do you know it's not yixing? Not arguing just want to get knowledge.


@Mark-S This is why I posted here - to get more information, I'm not claiming to be an expert. You also agree that it's not yixing clay (even modern)?

And again thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Chadrinkincat]

@czarzly
I’m pretty sure those crumbling grains in the bottom are just loose clay/dust from manufacturing. This is a sign that this pot is newly made and hasn’t been clean out yet.

I’d also echo Steanze recommendation for not using this pot and sticking to simple design like standard shui ping until you are more familiar w/ zisha. The worst quality pots are usually made in decorative designs like this w/ mystery clay, addictives and faux patina.

[Chadrinkincat]

@Bok Speaking of fake pots from eBay. Here is what looks like a modern shoe polish copy of those mystery Indonesian brass + clay pots that we discussed awhile back. https://www.ebay.com/itm/393334709650

[Mark-S]

Bok Speaking of fake pots from eBay. Here is what looks like a modern shoe polish copy of those mystery Indonesian brass + clay pots that we discussed awhile back. https://www.ebay.com/itm/393334709650

Nice Russian pot

Would it really be worth to fake these pots? Do you have an example of a genuine one? I have only seen them on eBay so far. Could also be the case that they are generally worthless and someone applied shoe polish or whatever this is to the pot to make it look more "interesting"... I have seen them with and without shoe polish for about the same price.

By the way this "shoe polish" does not have to be sticky or smelly. You often read this in blog posts or forums but it's not always the case. Maybe this is helpful to someone. I learned this the hard way.

[Mark-S]

Mark-S This is why I posted here - to get more information, I'm not claiming to be an expert. You also agree that it's not yixing clay (even modern)?

And again thanks for taking the time to reply.

I am also no expert and yes, I don't think it's "real" Yixing clay. The clay looks weird on the inside and outside. And the craftsmanship is also bad. No idea why the guy on Facebook said that this could be a RoC pot. In my opinion this is definitely not the case. I bought a lot of imitations/fakes on my journey and some of them I still use... so not all imitations/fakes are necessarily bad... but this one I would not use. Better use your other pots instead.

If you want to know what real antiques look like: http://zishaartgallery.com/product-cate ... %e5%a3%b6/
This is one of the few trustworthy sellers and he got high resolution images you can learn from.

[steanze]

czarzly

steanze

It's normal that a pot feels grainy or smooth on the inside, but it should not crumble. At least not after an initial cleaning. If it still crumbles I think it's bad firing... or what's your opinion on that?

That's right, after cleaning it should not crumble. Before cleaning, some Yixings can have residuals from construction that could break off/crumble. This happens quite often in F1 pots that have never been used - it's usually a little piece of clay stuck on the bottom or on the sides in the interior that can come off if you push it/touch it.