....So to speak, its better to acquire new, young yixing teapots now then ever? If thats what you pushing.VerdantTea wrote:If I was unclear, I apologize. You explain exactly what I meant. It is of course time and careful growth that makes an Yixing made with great clay great. However, in 50 or 100 years, the teapots made today that are carefully taken care of will, due to advances in craftsmanship and design, grow into more spectacular examples of all that an Yixing clay teapot can be.AdamMY wrote: I feel that technology may be allowing artisans to get more consistent results, with more easily controllable temperatures, and a more scientific understanding of ceramic properties and their behavior.
But that being said I feel that that makes the great pots of that time all the more special, not to mention the fact that its widely acknowledged that they have used some of the best clays, which are just about all but gone by now.
Unlike other traditional crafts that a generally on the decline (lost in the shadow of their irretrievable predecessors), Yixing pottery is continuing to grow, change, push the craft further and further past the limits and on into new frontiers of possibility.
If you like the 'frontiers of possibility' aspect of teapots. I would highly suggest Taiwanese 'Yixing' style teapot. Like Taiwanese tea, their potters are much more on the "push, change, growing the craft further past the limits" sort of thing. Perhaps same as the Japanese Tokoname ware.