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Feb 1st, '13, 06:07
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Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Maitre_Tea » Feb 1st, '13, 06:07

So I recently acquired this from my grandfather. He bought it about 30 years ago, and even though he insists it's "authentic" yixing but I think it's Taiwanese clay. There are concentric circles inside the pot and inside the lid which makes me suspect it's wheel thrown. There's also a faint "Made in China" stamp on the bottom. Overall, it's a weird pot. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.
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Feb 1st, '13, 09:57
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Teaism » Feb 1st, '13, 09:57

Hi Maitre,


Thanks for sharing.

This is not a Taiwanese pot. It is a Chaozhou pot of the 70s. The clay is not Yixing clay. It is made by "shou-la" i.e. hand pull method on spinning wheel.

In the era of 1970s, this pot usually sell in a set i.e. the pot and six or four cups plus the tea boat. From the picture it looks like a 6 cup size pot. The tea boat is very interesting and comes in various shapes. The common one are two disc shape bowl close nicely together with the pot or cups inside. Another variation is the cylindrical shape with a brewing cover for the pot to sit in and cups on another part of the tea boat. For a complete set in those days, it cost less than US$10.

I like the carving on the pot. Usually these are production pots and the carver would carve the same design on all the pots. After many years of carving the same design, the stroke developed into very spontaneous, refined and fluid expression.

I hope you are enlightened with the info. :)

Cheers and have a good tea day my friend. :D

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Feb 1st, '13, 13:13
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by the_economist » Feb 1st, '13, 13:13

I have a similar set back in Singapore, no pictures though! I have not dared to use it for tea since it didn't seem like yixing clay haha...

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Feb 1st, '13, 15:36
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by teaisme » Feb 1st, '13, 15:36

this reminds me of those Jian Shui teapots at yunnansourcing just less polished

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... oduct=1441

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Feb 1st, '13, 20:52
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Maitre_Tea » Feb 1st, '13, 20:52

Teaism wrote:Hi Maitre,


Thanks for sharing.

This is not a Taiwanese pot. It is a Chaozhou pot of the 70s. The clay is not Yixing clay. It is made by "shou-la" i.e. hand pull method on spinning wheel.

In the era of 1970s, this pot usually sell in a set i.e. the pot and six or four cups plus the tea boat. From the picture it looks like a 6 cup size pot. The tea boat is very interesting and comes in various shapes. The common one are two disc shape bowl close nicely together with the pot or cups inside. Another variation is the cylindrical shape with a brewing cover for the pot to sit in and cups on another part of the tea boat. For a complete set in those days, it cost less than US$10.

I like the carving on the pot. Usually these are production pots and the carver would carve the same design on all the pots. After many years of carving the same design, the stroke developed into very spontaneous, refined and fluid expression.

I hope you are enlightened with the info. :)

Cheers and have a good tea day my friend. :D
Thanks Teaism

So the follow up: What to pair with this teapot? I'm not familiar with Chao Zhou clay besides a very thin modern one I have from Tea Habitat. It's got pretty thick walls, so maybe something more roasted. Suggestions?

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Feb 1st, '13, 23:20
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Teaism » Feb 1st, '13, 23:20

Maitre_Tea wrote:
Teaism wrote:
Thanks Teaism

So the follow up: What to pair with this teapot? I'm not familiar with Chao Zhou clay besides a very thin modern one I have from Tea Habitat. It's got pretty thick walls, so maybe something more roasted. Suggestions?
Hi Mitre_tea,

I think for a start, you should clean up the pot first. :D

You can do the search online quite easily on various method of cleaning it. I just say that you must NOT use any detergent or chemical to clean it, any natural way of cleaning is OK.

For tea pairing, for a Chaozhou pot, brew them with the tea Chaozhou people use. Typically there 2 types commonly used by them. They are rock tea e.g. Shuixian, Tie Loh Han, Da Hong Bao etc or the other is heavy baked or fired Tie Kwan Yin.

The traditional Chaozhou brewing method is an art by itself, it took me more than 10-20 years of religiously practice and experiment to just to understand it....we can talk for years on this topic. I have a Chaozhou set up "station" at home just to train on brewing Chaozhou style and did it very often for many years...and still learning everyday.

But not to worry. Just do it and a start is always the beginning of a great journey..So just start and try with these 2 teas and see how it goes.

Good luck and enjoy a good tea day my friend.

Cheers!

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Feb 2nd, '13, 04:38
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Maitre_Tea » Feb 2nd, '13, 04:38

So here's another "weird" pot. Acquired from my grandfather, 20-30 years ago. Can't remember much about it. There are concentric lines inside the lid, so maybe also a Chaozhou pot? The walls aren't as thick...medium-thin.
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Feb 2nd, '13, 09:00
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by Teaism » Feb 2nd, '13, 09:00

Hello my friend,

This is a good challenge as it is not the typical style pot. The seal and certain shapes has Yixing characteristic and the clay looks like Chazhou clay but the "shou-lah" character is not apparent. It is also not very typical Chaozhou pot.

My best bet in this unusual pot, based on "dejavu glimpse and feel of the past" :roll: is that this pot is a Zhang Zhou (漳州)pot. Zhang Zhou is located in South of Fujian. It was a teapot producing region and its pot are available in the 80s. Zhangzhou and Chaozhou pots are considered to be more inferior as compared to Yixing pots but they served their economic and mass market purpose for the people and tea culture at that time.

Tea brewing similar to Chaozhou style is quite common in Zhang Zhou but they use more heavy bake Tie Guan Yin, those very dark green (almost black) oolong in the shape of a small ball. This pot geometry is most suitable for brewing ball shape TKY. A thinner wall is good for reducing the brew temperature and control the bittterness esp when the TKY is moderately fired ones. Functionally, it also makes a lot of sense.

This is my best guess and I will PM you if I discover more about it in future. I also look forward to fellow forummers' comments.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

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Feb 7th, '13, 23:19
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Re: Weird Taiwanese Pot

by tingjunkie » Feb 7th, '13, 23:19

Teaism, any idea on the current value of these Chaozhou pots from the 70's?

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