Help Identifying a Handmade Teapot!

[hhuang56]

Hi Everyone!

I'm brand new to the forum, and I hope this is the correct place to post this question. I've been getting more into tea and thought that it would be helpful to gain a bit more knowledge about it!

I recently purchased a handmade teapot from an antique store, but I don't know anything about it. Is it Yixing or even Chinese or possibly Japanese? I believe it's handmade because it doesn't have the tell-tale signs of a manufactured teapot, like the seam on the spout or handle. It has a slight indentation where the handle is attached, and a couple "potter's errors" like finger strokes and imperfect lines. The make isn't fantastic -- the lid isn't aligned perfectly, and it doesn't really glide when turned. But it has a nice patina, and I'd love to learn more about it if anyone knows anything! I've included a picture of the pot and some maker's marks.

Thanks for your help!

[steanze]

I can't see very well from the pictures (they were taken in low light conditions, some are out of focus)... but as far as I can see, to me it looks like an attempt to fake an old pot and make it look shiny with wax outside and dirty inside with shoe polish or something similar. I would not drink from it for the time being. If you can post a few more pictures (taken with daylight, in focus) maybe I can be a bit more confident in my evaluation

[AT333]

+1

[steanze]

Seams on the spout or handle do not necessarily indicate that a teapot is mass produced. Old handmade teapots often have marks around the spout and handle, like this:

[hhuang56]

I can't see very well from the pictures (they were taken in low light conditions, some are out of focus)... but as far as I can see, to me it looks like an attempt to fake an old pot and make it look shiny with wax outside and dirty inside with shoe polish or something similar. I would not drink from it for the time being. If you can post a few more pictures (taken with daylight, in focus) maybe I can be a bit more confident in my evaluation

Thanks for responding! And letting me know about the possibility of it being a reproduction. I've drank a cup or two out of it but I'll definitely stop now x.x

Here are some more pictures. The lid was really hard to capture but hopefully the others are better?

[steanze]

Yes, these pictures are much better. Thanks.
There are various kinds of imitations of old pots. Some are more recent pots made of yixing clay that imitate older pots. They can look pretty similar, especially some '80s reproductions of ROC pots. They are usually safe to drink from, and often can be made of quite good clay, although they were not really made in the time they are claimed to be.
Then there are pots made of non-yixing clay, possibly toxic, and this is the case of the pot in this post. There are various things that can tell you this pot is not right. First, look at the grain of the clay, you can see that it looks very uniform, without a texture. You can compare it to the pot I posted, that has some black dots, some shiny silica speckles, it is not all the same. Second, the black that you see for instance on the handle of your pot would never happen with tea. You can sometimes find a line under the spout produced by tea dripping, or some signs of calcium deposits, but nothing would produce that very black and irregular stain, especially on the handle. Third, those flowers on the side indicate that the pot is not real. They are an attempt to imitate some decorations found on Yixing pots, I am thinking for instance about some factory 1 pots that have some yellow colored flowers on the side, but the ones on the real pots are entirely different in color, and these look like they are definitely not made of Yixing clay. Fourth, proportions are very off. The knob on the lid is huge - sure there are some very oddly proportioned factory 5 pots made in the 80s, but looking at the seal this pot is trying to be late Qing/ROC, and I have never seen a pot from that period that would have these proportions.

It's not a tragedy, hopefully you did not pay too much for it, and we all pay some "tuition". The first pot I got was a huge hongni pot of terrible quality clay and workmanship, maybe around 300ml of size. I still look at it from time to time to have a laugh

[hhuang56]

Haha, thanks so much! No I didn't spend much at all. I was just hoping for a handmade pot I could use, so I'll try again next time! Luckily I have a different clay pot I'm sure is less toxic than this one.