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Unglazed pots?

by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 14:18

Anyone know of any other clays used for unglazed teapots other than Yixing? I don't have anything against Yixing (I have a couple) but I'm just curious.

Another semi-related question, where do folks find those little palm sized Yixing pots?

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by shogun89 » Dec 6th, '08, 15:02

Hi,

Cant really answer your first question as I dont know. But for the yixings, All yixing teapots should be palm sized. But here is a link that has some, pretty much anything 200ml. and under is palm sized.

http://stores.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sourcing- ... idZ2QQtZkm

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Re: Unglazed pots?

by wyardley » Dec 6th, '08, 15:17

capheind wrote:Anyone know of any other clays used for unglazed teapots other than Yixing? I don't have anything against Yixing (I have a couple) but I'm just curious.
Sure. For one thing, a lot of "Yixing" pots aren't made of Yixing clay at all, but other local clays that are similar. Chaozhou potters have historically made pots from a local red clay for a long time; these pots are turned on a wheel (unlike most Yixing pots), and are called Chaozhou or Shantou pots. I believe there are some unglazed Taiwanese pots made from local clay. There are probably some other examples, but those are the most famous.

And of course, the famous "Brown Betty" English teapots are unglazed on the inside.
shogun89 wrote:All yixing teapots should be palm sized. But here is a link that has some, pretty much anything 200ml. and under is palm sized.
Well that might be a bit of a stretch. There are plenty of large pots (>350 ml) that are very sought after and that I think most people would consider larger than "palm sized". Really depends on what you want them for and what style of tea brewing you're doing.

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by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 16:27

shogun89 wrote:Hi,

Cant really answer your first question as I dont know. But for the yixings, All yixing teapots should be palm sized. But here is a link that has some, pretty much anything 200ml. and under is palm sized.

http://stores.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sourcing- ... idZ2QQtZkm
Well I don't know about should.. I mean I don't see anything particularly wrong about making larger pots from yixing, I'm just finding that most the stuff out there is of the larger variety and it seems harder to get the very small ones.

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by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 16:43

There are two giant yixing pots at the site below, not sure how those are used, probably decorative.

http://www.jschina.com.cn/gb/jschina/en ... 5536.shtml

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by shogun89 » Dec 6th, '08, 17:36

capheind wrote:
shogun89 wrote:Hi,

Cant really answer your first question as I dont know. But for the yixings, All yixing teapots should be palm sized. But here is a link that has some, pretty much anything 200ml. and under is palm sized.

http://stores.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sourcing- ... idZ2QQtZkm
Well I don't know about should.. I mean I don't see anything particularly wrong about making larger pots from yixing, I'm just finding that most the stuff out there is of the larger variety and it seems harder to get the very small ones.
No, theres nothing wrong with using larger yixings at all, I'm sorry if thats how my statement sounded. I believe that you use what you like.

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by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 17:53

shogun89 wrote:
capheind wrote:
shogun89 wrote:Hi,

Cant really answer your first question as I dont know. But for the yixings, All yixing teapots should be palm sized. But here is a link that has some, pretty much anything 200ml. and under is palm sized.

http://stores.ebay.com/Yunnan-Sourcing- ... idZ2QQtZkm
Well I don't know about should.. I mean I don't see anything particularly wrong about making larger pots from yixing, I'm just finding that most the stuff out there is of the larger variety and it seems harder to get the very small ones.
No, theres nothing wrong with using larger yixings at all, I'm sorry if thats how my statement sounded. I believe that you use what you like.
Well your statement would be 110% correct if we were talking about Gung Fu tea sets though, and thats actually the sort I was looking for. Y

your link was handy BTW thanks.

what I'd really like to find are the particularly small ones as I usually only end up making tea for myself.

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by ABx » Dec 6th, '08, 18:36

The eBay stores are where we get most of ours around here - just stay away from 5000friends or anything that looks like it has a patina with tea stains (it's usually shoe polish or similar). Just search for "yixing teapot." Funalliance.com is another good one.

Unfortunately I don't have any personal recommendations. I've bought all mine from a local shop and one eBay vendor that no longer sells yixing. Dragon Tea House, Yunnan Sourcing (both eBay), and funalliance.com all have good reputations though. Colorful Yunnan (another eBay store) has nice stuff, but I've heard that he does a terrible job with packaging so many things arrive broken - though that was mostly with the little lucky animals, the teapots could be another matter, but I'm still apprehensive about buying anything from him.

I have a small 50ml one coming from zen8tea on eBay. She has great prices, but until I get that pot I won't be able to say for sure. She's a distributor, though, so I think that she just sells at wholesale prices.

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by edkrueger » Dec 6th, '08, 18:41

capheind wrote:There are two giant yixing pots at the site below, not sure how those are used, probably decorative.

http://www.jschina.com.cn/gb/jschina/en ... 5536.shtml
I've seen one just like the super giant one, it is made with concrete in made in a mold.

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by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 18:53

edkrueger wrote:
capheind wrote:There are two giant yixing pots at the site below, not sure how those are used, probably decorative.

http://www.jschina.com.cn/gb/jschina/en ... 5536.shtml
I've seen one just like the super giant one, it is made with concrete in made in a mold.
I suspect the answer.. but is it usable?

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by capheind » Dec 6th, '08, 18:56

ABx wrote:The eBay stores are where we get most of ours around here - just stay away from 5000friends or anything that looks like it has a patina with tea stains (it's usually shoe polish or similar). Just search for "yixing teapot." Funalliance.com is another good one.

Unfortunately I don't have any personal recommendations. I've bought all mine from a local shop and one eBay vendor that no longer sells yixing. Dragon Tea House, Yunnan Sourcing (both eBay), and funalliance.com all have good reputations though. Colorful Yunnan (another eBay store) has nice stuff, but I've heard that he does a terrible job with packaging so many things arrive broken - though that was mostly with the little lucky animals, the teapots could be another matter, but I'm still apprehensive about buying anything from him.

I have a small 50ml one coming from zen8tea on eBay. She has great prices, but until I get that pot I won't be able to say for sure. She's a distributor, though, so I think that she just sells at wholesale prices.
Please post when you get it, her stuff looks interesting but I'd like to know before I buy how reliable she is. That and I have to wait till I have some extra splurge money...

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by gingkoseto » Dec 6th, '08, 20:51

A question off the topic.
Since Shogun89 mentioned Yunnan source, and I have been tempted by a few pots in Yunnan source - Is this one really zhu ni?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... m153.l1262

It looks very pretty, and the price is relatively low. I am so going to buy it if it is. But I have never seen a zhu ni yixing at low price, so I have somewhat held myself so far and really want to know!
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by shogun89 » Dec 6th, '08, 21:31

gingko wrote:A question off the topic.
Since Shogun89 mentioned Yunnan source, and I have been tempted by a few pots in Yunnan source - Is this one really zhu ni?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... m153.l1262

It looks very pretty, and the price is relatively low. I am so going to buy it if it is. But I have never seen a zhu ni yixing at low price, so I have somewhat held myself so far and really want to know!
Very interesting, You picked one of the ones I have! Whether its really Zhu ni or not I dont know, I dont think you can get a real one for less that $100. However I can assure you that it is a great pot! It looks nicer in real life than the pic. The clay is nice and smooth on the outside and looks really cool with those particles in it. It makes a nice high pitch ring when taped which some say means higher quality. Smells of hot sand when heated which means no chemicals were used. Makes a great cup of tea. Nothing much else to say, just a great pot at a great price. You will not be disappointed.

I also have this one and love it too. This one looks alot better in real life as well. The pic gives it a sorta oily appearance which is not correct. The pot is a dark graphite color.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Round-Xi-Shi-Hei-Ni ... dZViewItem

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by wyardley » Dec 6th, '08, 22:25

I don't have too many specific vendor recommendations for small pots, but I will mention that a lot of vendors will have smaller pots they can recommend if you contact them directly. Most western vendors don't stock a whole lot of big pots because most westerners can't understand why you would want a teapot smaller than 8 oz or so.

Pots in the range of 100-150 ml are pretty easy to find. Pots < 100 ml are sometimes a little harder to find. And handmade pots that are small are often expensive because they're difficult to make.

A few thoughts about where you could look, at least assuming you are willing to spend $60-120 US. If you are looking to spend less, there are options out there too, though they may be more limited.

* Guang @ Hou De can usually find something for you if you give him a price range, size range, and the type of pot you're looking for or the type of tea you're looking to use with it.

* Seb @ http://jingteashop.com/ mostly carries bigger pots on the site, but can probably find pots for you. Their prices are somewhat on the high side, but the quality is generally very good.

* Stephane of Tea Masters sells some small-ish (though not really tiny) pots... I think he could find some small pots for you in Taiwan if you asked.

* Best Tea House in Richmond / Vancouver has a good selection of small pots... many are very expensive, but he has some modern pots that aren't too expensive that he will sell you. No online shopping for this location, but if you call him (more details at http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6254 ) he can probably email you some pictures. Here's a detail of some of the ones in one of the sections of newer pots he has.
Image

* Fun Alliance has a whole section of < 5oz pots. http://funalliance.com/tea/yixing_5oz.htm Not really my style, but some folks like their stuff.

* Lau Yu Fat - http://teahouse.com.hk
http://teahouse.com.hk/product/details/ ... eramic.htm
Their English site's shopping links don't work, but the Chinese site isn't too hard to navigate. I think they're a little overpriced for the quality you get, but they do have a good selection of small pots. They speak pretty good English if you email them.

* j-tea - http://www.jteainternational.com/ - doesn't list pots on his site, and I think Josh will be the first to tell you he's not a teapot specialist, but he has some nice teaware in his personal collection, and he's got some nice small-ish pots for sale at good prices (down to $25-30 US), and maybe he'd be willing to send you some photos of what he's got in the shop. Many of them are of unknown provenance, but should be of at least adequate quality. I got these two factory style pots pictured below (actual volume ~ 110 ml maybe) from him, I think they were priced around $25-30, but not 100% sure.
Image

One other tip... make sure you find out whether the vendor has verified the size, and whether the measurement is based on aproximately how much tea the pot will make or its actual volume.

re: zhuni / YSLLC pots, keep in mind that a lot of vendors will include "modern" zhuni pots, or any pot that's made of red clay "zhuni". However, it won't necessarily be true old zhuni. And the ones he has in the $30 are probably a little better quality clay than the $10 ones.

See also this thread, about the more expensive YSLLC "lao zhu ni" pots:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6527
also links to:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=5993

And this thread:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=4348

Also note that Scott put "zhuni" in quotes, which might not only be because it's a foreign word.

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by gingkoseto » Dec 6th, '08, 22:49

Thanks shogun89 and wyardley! I think I will buy a $12 teapot, stop wondering what "ni" it is and play with it. It's very good price!
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