High end Yixing clay teapots

[Zared]

For over 3000 I would rather get a Qing dynasty teapot, but that's me

I’d rather buy a $1000 pot and spend the other 2k on good tea

[12Tea]

Based on my personal experience a Yixing teapot below 100$ isn't possible, but if you've 200$ you can get a decent starter Yixing teapot. It almost impossible to verify clay, but you can look at the craftmanship. A poorly made teapot will never be from good clay, while you won't spend lots of hours on a good piece of art, using poor clay.

I'm using this one from Teasenz and I'm completely in love with it. I can't verify the clay, but it's amazingly well made and brews excellent.

[tingjunkie]

I'm a tad surprised he hasn't already popped up to ask, "Have you tried Adagio's high end Yixing?"

[tingjunkie]

Based on my personal experience a Yixing teapot below 100$ isn't possible, but if you've 200$ you can get a decent starter Yixing teapot.

You need more experience, then.

[carmeloneo]

I'm using Tang Liping's more than $3000 teapot, also I'm using Liang Shoukun's tian qing ni Hantang Shipiao. some traditional teapots, the gap in craftsmanship is not as big as you think.
There're so many rumor makers because most tea-lovers don't know real Yixing clay, there's a book recommended, the magnified texture won't tell lies:

Can you tell me more about this book? Is it available for the western public?

Thanks,
Benito

This book introduces nearly all kinds of Yixing clays' characters and texture with pictures, also includes the handling and firing process.
I bought in local bookstore, there's no English translation.

[carmeloneo]

That's paragenesis of benshan lv ni and zi ni, the basis is ben shan lv ni
Purer ben shan lv ni is like below, the clay cost to make a teapot is about $200, that's already the cheapest price, so you can have a reference.

[carmeloneo]

I'm a tad surprised he hasn't already popped up to ask, "Have you tried Adagio's high end Yixing?"

Do you have any idea about the clay?

[BarryRah]

I was wondering do vintage watches from high end brands such as VC and AP still qualify as high end watches despite not having high end price tags always attached?

[TEAMOOD]

In a Yixing local's view, as long as the clay is authentic and technique of craftman is good and you are happy about the design and price, it is a good buy. Different people have different understanding on the same piece.

[TEAMOOD]

As a Yixing Local, I Agree with you.To most Zisha teapot users,value from auther fame is not so highly appreciated as long as clay is real zisha(either poor or good)
and craft technique is acceptable.
so better to be thoughtful when tagging them with words highend. There are always people outside Yixing experienced what is really highend stuff.

These pots look okay, but the forms are not refined enough to be labeled “high end” IMO. And the pictures are too pixelated to see the clay in higher definition. This is the sad fate of modern yixing climate. Particularly online purchasing.

It is unrealistic to assume young artists have access to the best original mountain clays. It seems yixing market has learned what terms to throw around these last 5-10 years to make their product sound more authentic or “higher quality”. How is a customer to verify such claims? It takes years of handling pots and comparing old/new batches to even begin to have a the sensibilities to make somewhat sound judgments on quality.

Most pots in the $100-$200 range nowadays are made with decent, doped or manipulated clays to appeal to the less discerned customer

[TEAMOOD]

I was wondering do vintage watches from high end brands such as VC and AP still qualify as high end watches despite not having high end price tags always attached?

You are the cool head here.Thumb Up!