Personally, I don't like to be cheated by sellers pretending to be on of their customers, but I don't see anything bad in owner of teashops participating in discussion and, honestly, also advertising their products.
I am new to this teachat and have been struggling in finding a tea forum or a tea chat on the web with Europeans. Most are full of American. Any suggestions?
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
There are people from all over the world on here. Europe includedgabriele wrote:Personally, I don't like to be cheated by sellers pretending to be on of their customers, but I don't see anything bad in owner of teashops participating in discussion and, honestly, also advertising their products.
I am new to this teachat and have been struggling in finding a tea forum or a tea chat on the web with Europeans. Most are full of American. Any suggestions?
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Hi gabriele,
welcome to the forum!
Vendors can participate to discussion on this forum, but they can't pretend to be an impartial customer and advertise their products. Chip will correct me if I am wrong here, but vendors need to notify the forum moderator and will have a tag next to their posts that specifies that they are vendor members, so that other members can factor that information in when evaluating the vendors' statements.
This is an international forum, with Americans, Europeans, and people from all other nationalities. We all share the passion for tea across the boundaries of our countries of origin. I am not sure why you'd want a forum without Americans? I have learned a lot from American members on this forum. You probably mean that you'd want to know about a forum with some Europeans, so that it's easier to organize get togethers and order tea as a group. In that respect, there are many Europeans on this forum - even among teaware artisans (I am thinking for instance about Petr Novak and Andrzej Bero). The OP of this thread is European too, and I myself am European although I am currently living and studying in the US.
In the end, if you'd like to ask a question unrelated to the topic of the original thread ("How to choose an original yixing teapot"), for instance "Any fellow tea enthusiasts currently living in Europe?" I would suggest that you start a new thread. I am confident that many members on the forum will post on the thread.
welcome to the forum!
Vendors can participate to discussion on this forum, but they can't pretend to be an impartial customer and advertise their products. Chip will correct me if I am wrong here, but vendors need to notify the forum moderator and will have a tag next to their posts that specifies that they are vendor members, so that other members can factor that information in when evaluating the vendors' statements.
This is an international forum, with Americans, Europeans, and people from all other nationalities. We all share the passion for tea across the boundaries of our countries of origin. I am not sure why you'd want a forum without Americans? I have learned a lot from American members on this forum. You probably mean that you'd want to know about a forum with some Europeans, so that it's easier to organize get togethers and order tea as a group. In that respect, there are many Europeans on this forum - even among teaware artisans (I am thinking for instance about Petr Novak and Andrzej Bero). The OP of this thread is European too, and I myself am European although I am currently living and studying in the US.
In the end, if you'd like to ask a question unrelated to the topic of the original thread ("How to choose an original yixing teapot"), for instance "Any fellow tea enthusiasts currently living in Europe?" I would suggest that you start a new thread. I am confident that many members on the forum will post on the thread.
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Hi, it's just the store I bought some teas and a teapot recently, and had good experience with it, nothing morekyarazen wrote:nannuoshan's your favourite store or are you related to it?Nicole wrote:I agree with the idea of gaiwan too. What's more, gaiwan does not retain odors as yixing teapot, so u could brew different teas.
I placed an order for some oolong and pu'er teas in nannuoshan, and saw they have fine gaiwans too, this one is my favorite as I prefer the pure whitemaybe I will get one for myself.
http://www.nannuoshan.org/collections/g ... hen-gaiwan
I'll try not to refer to specific stores.
About Yixing teapot I have a question myself, anyone knows how to choose the quality? I'm always just attracted by the looks and as the price varies from low to high, and my experience is much depends on luck. I would love to know how to do it properly.
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Hi Nicole!
You can refer to specific stores, it's just that since another new member recently posted a spam-looking message about the same store, and you are also a new member, your post raised some doubts...
Judging the quality of a Yixing pot is not easy. I'd say to stay away from complicate shapes (unless you know what you are choosing), and to look at a lot of images of pots posted here on the forum, especially by members who know about Yixing (chrl42, Teaism, kyarazen, TIM, MarshalN, and others) to get a sense of what genuine Yixing clay looks like.
You can refer to specific stores, it's just that since another new member recently posted a spam-looking message about the same store, and you are also a new member, your post raised some doubts...
Judging the quality of a Yixing pot is not easy. I'd say to stay away from complicate shapes (unless you know what you are choosing), and to look at a lot of images of pots posted here on the forum, especially by members who know about Yixing (chrl42, Teaism, kyarazen, TIM, MarshalN, and others) to get a sense of what genuine Yixing clay looks like.
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Hi, Steanzesteanze wrote:Hi Nicole!
You can refer to specific stores, it's just that since another new member recently posted a spam-looking message about the same store, and you are also a new member, your post raised some doubts...
Judging the quality of a Yixing pot is not easy. I'd say to stay away from complicate shapes (unless you know what you are choosing), and to look at a lot of images of pots posted here on the forum, especially by members who know about Yixing (chrl42, Teaism, kyarazen, TIM, MarshalN, and others) to get a sense of what genuine Yixing clay looks like.
Thank you for ur advice. I've looked at some images of teapots posted in this forum, most of them look very nice, and I compared to those pictures with bad quality which i found online, I found details are much more delicate and fine compared to the low quality ones. I'll try to look more and find out.
I'm new here, hope I'm getting better on this. I can't live a day without tea, and i guess not only me like that
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Recognizing original Yixing is in fact not easy.
An original Yixing teapot is one made with the clay extracted in the neighborhood of Yixing. It is a dense clay, very dense. When you tap the teapot with the lid the sound is metallic. However this is a test you can do only when you have the pot in your hand.
In general, I would say that in most cases it is not possibile to distinguish an original Yixing from a good fake just based on a photo.
The good news is that there are many original Yixing teapot around. So, if the source is reliable, they will sell the real stuff. If they pretend sourcing directly from Yixing, ask them to share with you photos of their journey.
The real problem is not finding original Yixing teapot, but be sure that the price is in line with the quality. More on next post about that...
An original Yixing teapot is one made with the clay extracted in the neighborhood of Yixing. It is a dense clay, very dense. When you tap the teapot with the lid the sound is metallic. However this is a test you can do only when you have the pot in your hand.
In general, I would say that in most cases it is not possibile to distinguish an original Yixing from a good fake just based on a photo.
The good news is that there are many original Yixing teapot around. So, if the source is reliable, they will sell the real stuff. If they pretend sourcing directly from Yixing, ask them to share with you photos of their journey.
The real problem is not finding original Yixing teapot, but be sure that the price is in line with the quality. More on next post about that...
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Moulded or slab built? Unknown ranked artist?
By far most of the Yixing teapot are produced with a mould. The fresh clay is pressed by hand in a mould. After firing in the oven, the handle and the spout, produced in separated moulds, are added.
A moulded Yixing teapot does not require a lot of handwork and is not a unique piece, as many pots are made with the same mould and identical moulds exist.
Slab building is a different story. The teapot is completely made by hand, using a turning table. Only experienced artists can do it. There is an official ranking of artist in China, strongly influencing the price. This teapots are never a bargain. But are a unique piece.
How to recognize a slab built Yixing teapot? Hard, even artists in Yixing told me, they would not be able to. I think though that it is possible. They were simply not interested to.
First of hole if the teapot has sharp edges (like this: http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/wp-conten ... 80065x.jpg) it is most probably slab built. In the mould the edges are not very sharp.
Moreover you should look at the inside of the pot to search signs for slabbing. If they are very symmetric, it is probably a moulded one. you should search imperfections on the inside that point towards a a hand working.
By far most of the Yixing teapot are produced with a mould. The fresh clay is pressed by hand in a mould. After firing in the oven, the handle and the spout, produced in separated moulds, are added.
A moulded Yixing teapot does not require a lot of handwork and is not a unique piece, as many pots are made with the same mould and identical moulds exist.
Slab building is a different story. The teapot is completely made by hand, using a turning table. Only experienced artists can do it. There is an official ranking of artist in China, strongly influencing the price. This teapots are never a bargain. But are a unique piece.
How to recognize a slab built Yixing teapot? Hard, even artists in Yixing told me, they would not be able to. I think though that it is possible. They were simply not interested to.
First of hole if the teapot has sharp edges (like this: http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/wp-conten ... 80065x.jpg) it is most probably slab built. In the mould the edges are not very sharp.
Moreover you should look at the inside of the pot to search signs for slabbing. If they are very symmetric, it is probably a moulded one. you should search imperfections on the inside that point towards a a hand working.
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
Having edges with sharp angles isn't an indicator that it was hand made from slabs. It's easy to take a wood paddle or even the palm of your hand and make rounded shapes in slab-built pieces. If you take an intro pottery course you'll probably do this.gabriele wrote: How to recognize a slab built Yixing teapot? Hard, even artists in Yixing told me, they would not be able to. I think though that it is possible. They were simply not interested to.
First of hole if the teapot has sharp edges (like this: http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/wp-conten ... 80065x.jpg) it is most probably slab built. In the mould the edges are not very sharp.
Also the inverse...there's no reason why a mold can't be made with sharp corners.
Re: How to choose an original yixing teapot
I'm not sure what do you mean by "moulded" Yixing teapot?gabriele wrote:Moulded or slab built? Unknown ranked artist?
By far most of the Yixing teapot are produced with a mould. The fresh clay is pressed by hand in a mould. After firing in the oven, the handle and the spout, produced in separated moulds, are added.
A moulded Yixing teapot does not require a lot of handwork and is not a unique piece, as many pots are made with the same mould and identical moulds exist.
One should distinguish between half-handmade yixing teapots: made from clay slabs with help of moulds, which, in principle, could be as good for making tea as fully handmade ones (correct me if I'm wrong); and slip-casted teapots: made by pouring a liquid clay into a mould.