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Mar 10th, '13, 12:45
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Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by everyman » Mar 10th, '13, 12:45

Hi -

I'm new to teachat. My intro post is here http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18383.

I dove into Yixing pots with limited experience. Thanks to the internet you never truly dive in blind - unless you want to - but after reading hundreds of posts here I know way more facts and feel way less knowledgeable than before.

This is the pot I bought. http://www.ateatime.com/shop/old-zini-m ... ha-teapot/

It passes all the important tests. Aesthetically it makes me want to use it and brings me pleasure. It enriches the tea it's paired with.

Now I want to know more about my new girlfriend.

The info calls it old zini. When does zini become "old" before a certain year/period? At a certain point/depth in the mine?

From what I've read it's more pure and has a smoother texture than pin zini.

Anything you can add to my understanding of old zini would be appreciated.

Also any info/impressions you have on that particular pot would be appreciated too.

Thanks

Andrew
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Mar 10th, '13, 12:58
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by edkrueger » Mar 10th, '13, 12:58

You may have missed this recent thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18343

I think in this case "old" means that this pot might have even been made before 2014 with clay older than 2013.

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Mar 10th, '13, 14:10
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by gingkoseto » Mar 10th, '13, 14:10

I like your telephone! I used to have a pink one that I got from a yard sale for $1. I threw it away during a long-distance moving several years ago and will regret it forever :(

About old zini, I guess different people would use it for different meanings. The kind of "old" I like is the clay is "aged" under certain conditions for a long time (traditionally should be at least 1 year and several years would be pretty good). It's different from just letting the clay sit in the warehouse for several years, because technically speaking, all clay has been sitting underground for millions of years. The aging process requires professional control of conditions. This will make the clay look more "alive" without the dry feeling. It's also said to help with the longevity of the teapot, but it's hard to test whether this is true.

Here is a duan ni teapot I have that's made of clay aged for more than 10 years (but I wonder if the number of years was really counted). When the photo was taken, the teapot was pretty much new, but it didn't look or feel as dry as most new teapots.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Tjz7-dt8PhM/T ... 3%259C.JPG

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Mar 10th, '13, 14:22
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by futurebird » Mar 10th, '13, 14:22

Since natural clay is dug out of the earth aren't they 10000s of years old? Though I doubt there are many comercial pots made out of natural clay.

When I was a little girl I used to dig up silver an bright orange clay in my back yard. We'd wash it and make trinkets out of it (fired by my best friend's mom who had a kiln...) those were great days.

That clay was so smooth I wonder if a teapot could be made from it with someone with skill?

Mar 10th, '13, 14:32
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by edkrueger » Mar 10th, '13, 14:32

Most of clay used for pottery isn't just dug out of the earth as ready to use clay. It is in hard rocky chunks. Its pulverized, sifted and aged (basically composted). I'm sure someone else can say more.

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Mar 10th, '13, 21:47
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by tingjunkie » Mar 10th, '13, 21:47

Welcome to the forum Andrew. I'm curious if you emailed the vendor to ask how big the pot was before buying it?

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Mar 13th, '13, 15:39
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Re: Defintion of "old" zini and what's this pot

by everyman » Mar 13th, '13, 15:39

Thanks for the replies.

I did miss that earlier post about the vendor.

"Aged" makes way more sense than old and I suspect that's what was actually meant.

Someone asked if I had emailed the vendor before buying to find out the size and the answer is no. Fortunately this pot is for use with company so it's comparatively enormous 300 ml works.

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