Yixing Tea Set Raising... white residue OUTSIDE the pot

[DFAtea]

I bought a Yixing tea set that was in the window of a local Chinese bazar (there are a lot of these in Spain where I reside and they carry Chinese made goods). It was inexpensive at 18 euro in the window (around $24). I asked if I could see it and it looked like it wasn't a terribly expensive set, but well crafted, nice hand painting, 6 cups, 6 saucers, 1 brew pot, 2 'mugs' with tops. The pot top fit so snugly that he used a tool over my objections to get it free, and luckily damaged nothing. Once it was loose, it was ok. The pieces were all intact in what appeared to be a proper box, though the box itself had some water damage, but appeared to be a genuine: heavy cardboard covered in maroon textured material, gold inset lettering (mostly chinese, but also "WENYI XUAN ZI SHA", with plush, orange-lined mold-fitted insert. Something like this:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDEyMDA=/ ... C/$_35.JPG

I pointed that out and the pot top issue and he gave me the set for 12 euro ($15).

I brought the set home and was waiting for some tea to be sent from America. Finally decided to go ahead and boil the set. During the boil I noticed a little white flecking from the OUTSIDE of the kettle. I let everything cool, then rinsed and set in a spot to dry overnight.

Sure enough, in the morning most of the set had some white resin in a film on the outside of the pieces...different thickness as if someone had wiped a cream on the outside of the pot for polishing and let it set. The inside of the pieces are clean, except one cup where whatever it is seems to have dripped into the cup when they were doing whatever they did to the outside.

I have read some about boiling bringing out the 'fake' in sets, and the descriptions are similar to this, but the effect is on the inside. Here I am wondering if this is possibly something that I should expect and is part of the process of raising, or if possibly someone tried to clean the outside of the set for window presentation, and just used the wrong thing [I know it is impossible to infer the latter from what I've said]. If the film were INSIDE, I'd just throw up my hands and put it in the china cabinet after oiling the outside and never use it... but there appears to be nothing strange about the inside of the pieces, just clay. The aroma of the boiling was an earthy clay smell, not at all chemical. When damp (as the pots are now during he second boil) I dont see the film at all.

I'm wondering if those with more experience would like to offer any comment at all. I know the set was a steal if it is real...and doubt if anyone can offer how to determine that...but I wonder if I can use it if I resolve the external issues.

[miig]

Hi!
Sorry for your rough start with clay pots.. its always a gamble I think, especially if you pay so little.If you had a picture or two showing the white substance in some detail, that would be great.

Greetings

[tingjunkie]

It's probably wax. Many inexpensive sets like these are made for show or as a gift to people who don't know much about tea, and they coat the outside with wax to make it look nicer in the shop. The chances of it being worth the hours of boiling and scrubbing you'll need to do to get it off is pretty slim.