Seeking fully handmade Yixing pots made of high-quality clay

[mafoofan]

I am U.S.-based and have fallen through the rabbit's hole in my search for a high-quality Yixing teapot. For reasons that are not entirely rational, I prefer a fully handmade pot. I don't mind if modern--may even prefer it that way. However, I do also want high-quality clay. I don't care if the artist is well-known or ranked, only that the workmanship is pleasing.

I have elasticity when it comes to price, but psychologically do not want to go over $1,000 USD.

Traveling to China, Taiwan, etc. is not an option.

That leaves me with the online vendors. From reading the forum, I gather that the following may be reputable:

Chanting Pines
Chawang Shop
Essence of Tea
Mud and Leaves
Song Tea

I also found a vendor called Kong Mountain Tea, but no one here has mentioned them. They claim to sell fully handmade teapots and detail the clay used, but the prices are relatively low, which makes me suspicious.

I saw a few pots from Chanting Pines that looked very compelling, but prices are high (especially for their "Diamond Grade" pots): $800+. I would be happy to spend that much if the quality is commensurate. However, I have seen no detailed mention of this vendor's wares.

Can someone please provide some guidance? Do the more expensive pots available from the above sources look legitimate? Are they "worth it"?

Thank you advance for welcoming me to the community.

[sporad]

I am U.S.-based and have fallen through the rabbit's hole in my search for a high-quality Yixing teapot. For reasons that are not entirely rational, I prefer a fully handmade pot. I don't mind if modern--may even prefer it that way. However, I do also want high-quality clay. I don't care if the artist is well-known or ranked, only that the workmanship is pleasing.

I have elasticity when it comes to price, but psychologically do not want to go over $1,000 USD.

Traveling to China, Taiwan, etc. is not an option.

That leaves me with the online vendors. From reading the forum, I gather that the following may be reputable:

Chanting Pines
Chawang Shop
Essence of Tea
Mud and Leaves
Song Tea

I also found a vendor called Kong Mountain Tea, but no one here has mentioned them. They claim to sell fully handmade teapots and detail the clay used, but the prices are relatively low, which makes me suspicious.

I saw a few pots from Chanting Pines that looked very compelling, but prices are high (especially for their "Diamond Grade" pots): $800+. I would be happy to spend that much if the quality is commensurate. However, I have seen no detailed mention of this vendor's wares.

Can someone please provide some guidance? Do the more expensive pots available from the above sources look legitimate? Are they "worth it"?

Thank you advance for welcoming me to the community.

Hello from down low somewhere in the rabbit's hole.

Just to give my half cent about Kong Mountain Tea's teapots in particular since I just bought a couple from them (one zini that performs beautifully with high-roast oolongs and a non-yixing that I paired with aged white). From what I was able to gather, their pots described as "Handmade" on their website are actually half-handmade (shaped by hand with the help of one or more moulds. NOT slipcast) . It's only the ones described as "Fully-Handmade" (e.g. https://www.kongmountaintea.com/yixing- ... -ni-teapot), that are "truly" handmade.

I would say that the price difference between KMT's and Mud and Leaves fully-handmade pots, for example, comes down to the design style and artist rank. Probably also to clay quality. (M&L in particular, seems to be well known in the community for prioritising high quality modern clays. I also got a half-handmade zhuni from them, and I can say that the quality and performance of the clay is amazing with green oolongs and shengs ). In any case, I've found that both owners are super helpful and transparent, so I would recommend you reach out to them to ask any questions about their wares.

Finally, you might also want to look into this other vendor who I noted down as recommended around here: https://www.tea-masters.com/

Oh, and a friend bought a fully-handmade pot from Teavivre and he is very happy with it. I looked around their website and they are very straightforward about which are semi(/half)-handmade and which are 100% handmade.

Good luck!

P.S. What kind of teapot shapes do you prefer?

[mafoofan]

Help assessing quality of the clay and workmanship? Thanks!!!

[12Tea]

@mafoofan Hard to just the clay from the images, but it looks decently made. Does the lid fit well? How does the filter in the spout look like? A picture of the inside bottom can give more clues on whether it's handmade or not.

By the way, I'm got many friends who got Yixing teapots from Teasenz, and I'm heard some great feedback from them. Especially the ones that sell above 100$.

[sporad]

Hey mafoofan. Did you see this one?
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p676 ... ingni.html

[andresito]

EoT has started rolling out fully handmade teapots made with clays purchased from old stock when Yixing Factory 1 closed. worth checking out