Yixing clay?

[williammimi70]

No offense meant but with all those fake pots around it really escapes me how anyone can come to a safe conclusion from a couple small jpgs without any further information.

There are some chinese books on factory pots from the early era, which offer guidelines on identifying factory pots through some visual cues. Kyarazen's recent thread on the translation of one such book is a good example. Of course, it's hard to be definitive with just pictures, especially for high quality fakes, but most fakes out there are not that high quality, and can be ruled out following well establish guidelines.

My responses are not meant to sound definitive or authoritative. Rather, I am trying to offer my own opinion and hope that others with experience would chime in as well to confirm or dispute, all in the hope of learning more.

Back to the topic of this particular pot, hard to tell from pictures if this is factory 1. But even if it's not authentic, I think it's it's a better replica than most. Of course, whether the clay is truly good or safe depends on use, meaning no artificial smells when hit with boiling water. And perhaps I should be more clear about this, since that's the most important part, not using harmful pots for brewing.

Thank you for such a thoughtful reply. As a novice I appeciate all the helps I can get. I collect yixng teapots because I like the variety available. Living in the UK I often visit local antique shops, flea markets etc and most of my teapots( approximately 70 or more) came from there. Perhaps one day I will have a teapot that is truly collectible.Until then I will continue learning from all the contributors in this forum. Once again thank you very much

[victoria3]

Wow now that's a seriously large collection of pots. Do you use them also? It's a way to find out how authentic they are.

[williammimi70]

Wow now that's a seriously large collection of pots. Do you use them also? It's a way to find out how authentic they are.

Hi Victoria.
I am not an avid tea drinker but I do enjoy a cup of Oolong tea.
This is a part of my collection of teapots and cups.