authenticity

[tortoise]

This question could not be more neophyte so I appreciate your patience...

I have a couple yixing pots and am looking to acquire at least a few more; but as I search, I rarely find any information on the artisan or factory that produced the subject pot/ware.

How prevalent are yixing fakes?

Are there any tell-tale signs of a bogus or poorly made pot?

What are the best sources (online, if possible) for authentic, traditional yixing teaware?

[JBaymore]

Are there any tell-tale signs of a bogus or poorly made pot?

If the price looks too good to be true.....................

best,

............john

[Chip]

This is an oft discussed topic! There are many topics and posts on the subject. You could use the search or advanced search function in the top right banner of the forum for lots of information.

Hopefully there will be discussion here as well ...

[tortoise]

This is an oft discussed topic! There are many topics and posts on the subject. You could use the search or advanced search function in the top right banner of the forum for lots of information.

Hopefully there will be discussion here as well ...

Well, an initial search did not yield too many results as I guessed my way through terms to search. Sorry if post is redundant.

[Proinsias]

fakes, I'm not sure on.

If there's a particular pot you want info on post a pic and I'm sure someone knowledgeable will chime in.

What sort of budget do you have in mind?

Here's a few fairly well trusted vendors on the forum:

Hou de Asian Art
Jing Tea Shop
Essence of Tea

and a few more budget orientated suggestions:

Yunnan Sourcing
Dragon Tea House

[gingkoseto]

It also depends on the definition of yixing, which is not the same among sellers. I've seen some "yixing" teapots sold by some large, reputable companies that don't make money through fraudulence. The teapots are pretty. They don't look cheap (at least not from the photos). They look well made. They can be called good clay teapots. But they are not really made of yixing clay. The vendors mentioned by Proinsias are all good ones that sell yixing teapot by the most authentic definition.

[Chip]

This is an oft discussed topic! There are many topics and posts on the subject. You could use the search or advanced search function in the top right banner of the forum for lots of information.

Hopefully there will be discussion here as well ...

Well, an initial search did not yield too many results as I guessed my way through terms to search. Sorry if post is redundant.

Oh, no need to apologize! I just wanted you to know that there was a lot of info readily available.

Perhaps a good place to find out what is NOT Yixing is to learn what is Yixing as well.

[tortoise]

I appreciate the responses and i've located a couple other threads with good information also. The two "yixing" pots I have were given as gifts to me over the years. One of them is in the 40 dollar range and I always had some problems with the functionality of this model. The other, I believe, cost about 60 dollars and is an excellent pot, though I doubt it was made with yixing clay. I've located both the pots at yixing.com and after poking at the links provided herein, I can see there is a rift between what is called yixing and what actually is yixing.

I would think that most unglazed pots could absorb the nuances of what you steep in them. Is that unique to yixing or am I right about that?

What sort of budget do you have in mind?

Thanks for those links, Proinsias. I am definitely more toward the lower end of the incredibly stratified price scale, though economy is not the only consideration. I am sure I can find something among the links provided.

[Cyphre]

What you really have to be careful of is what else they add to the clay to make them look like Yixing. Those could actually be toxic and harmful to you. You want the teapots to absorb the tea flavor and make the tea taste better without adding extra flavor from other sources.

[britt]

Some so-called and marketed Yixings come from individual potters selling their wares in flea markets, making them very questionable as to whether they should really be called Yixing at all. Others are intentionally faked by adding chemicals, motor oil, dyes, etc. to make the counterfeit seem like it's made of a better type of clay or in the case of fake antiques that the one being sold is older than it really is. The lower-price market is flooded with Yixing-type teapots that are questionable as to their authentcity and safety. However, fakes are not confined to the lower price points. Due to some outrageous auction prices, fakes are also present in abundance in the higher-priced collector's market.

I recommend using either Hou De Asian (USA) or Jing Tea Shop (China). Another alternative is to use Taiwanese pots instead of Yixings. Some of these use Yixing clay but are made by Taiwanese craftsmen while others are made from native Taiwanese clay. Even lower-priced Taiwanese teapots from reputable companies should not have any safety concerns. There is a very good selection of Taiwanese teapots at Tea First, including hand-made and machine-made pots.

[Proinsias]

Thanks for those links, Proinsias. I am definitely more toward the lower end of the incredibly stratified price scale, though economy is not the only consideration. I am sure I can find something among the links provided.

I don't know much about pots, but am quite happy with the ones I own. From past exerience here on Teachat it might be worth posting roughly what you are looking for as oppossed to just scanning tons of pots and making an impulse buy - although that can be fun . For instance if you are looking to spend between $40-$120 on a pot, say around 100ml, for aged sheng pu'er or maybe roasted tie guan yin you'll likely get far more useful feedback than asking where the best place is to buy a pot. That worked a treat for me when I was looking for a small kyusu for Japanese green last year.

[MadeForTeaVea]

I've heard that it can be very dangerous to use a unglazed pot that isn't made from Yixing clay because a lot of clays contain toxic heavy metals. I've actually turned away from buying a few pots because I wasn't sure of their quality. And unlike buying a fake pu-erh or something similar there seems to be some health risks by using a fake Yixings pot.

Has anyone else ever heard of this or can confirm this?

[JBaymore]

I've heard that it can be very dangerous to use a unglazed pot that isn't made from Yixing clay because a lot of clays contain toxic heavy metals. .................
Has anyone else ever heard of this or can confirm this?

OK..... amongst other things, I teach ceramic toxicology for ceramic artists at the college level as part of ceramic technical materials usage courses.

Let's please be careful here of potential severe over generalization that can inadvertantly get extrrapolated to "all ungazed clay products" by readers of threads like this.

It can be dangerous to use glazed pots, it can be dangerous to use unglazed pots, and it can be perfectly safe to use either of them. But it can also be dangerous to drive a car. Lately in the USA, it can be dangerous to eat an egg.

The BIG question is the frequency of any possible issue and the magnitude of the risk. Both are very small. As a professional artisan, I can carry a $2 mil combined product and premises libility policy, and insure all my equipment and supplies, and work in transit and in exhibitions for under $1000 a year. If this toxicity thing were a real issue.... it would not be that cheap.

Yes, from a purely "technicality" standpoint, it is possible that a clay body could leach a toxic material like manganese into the liquid it contains. (Ditto for a glaze by the way.) The question then becomes how much will it leach. This is a terribly complex subject... and needs careful study to really assess the level of risk. Because is CAN happen does not mean that it often DOES happen.

I'd be more concerned about any non-ceramic additives that are used to treat a piece to fake the quality or to fake the antiquity than any actual fired ceramic products.


We've discussed this kind of thing here before in other threads..... mainly revolving around the safety of American-style raku wares.

best,

...............john

[Proinsias]

I recall a bunch of people using lead testing kits on yixing here a while ago - I don't think anyone found any lead even on the cheapest of the cheap.

If you want to be careful there are plenty vendors that are reliable - I'm sure there are dodgy pots around but I don't think a $20, or even $10, pot from Yunnan Sourcing or DTH is going to do you any harm, if it did there would be a lot less activity on teachat

[Proinsias]

And unlike buying a fake pu-erh or something similar there seems to be some health risks by using a fake Yixings pot.

I think I'd be more concerned about really cheap shu than I wouls about really cheap pots, but really you don't have to pay very much to be fairly safe.