I can't say for certain, but based on my experience, it takes a fine eye to tell the difference between a cast and a hand-built pot. That to me suggests that the clays are either the same or very close.tingjunkie wrote:Thanks for the info BBB! So in your estimation, slip cast Yixing pots are generally made from real zisha, but (generally speaking) perhaps not very good quality zisha by comparison to hand made or mold made pots?
Moreover, when people point to "obvious" features of cast yixing, they more often point to evidence of construction (joints, for example) and not the clay itself. That to me also suggests you can't tell cast from hand-built yixing just by looking, feeling, or ringing a pot.
I know we approach this from the "is this pot really built by hand?" angle, but the other angle is an important one, aesthetically. Because, to me, it's incredibly impressive that yixing artists make such perfect pots that we can't easily tell if they're mass-produced.
