The mishaps of buying yixing online.

[futurebird]

I just bought this 80cc "yixing" pot from jkteashop. ($46)What kind of teapot do you get for that low price? It arrived quickly along with a number of other incidental items that I ordered.  I was happy to find that it was in a box. I normally buy used teapots that do not have boxes.


Opening these boxes is a small sweet joy for me. I see why they are so popular now.


There are more photos on my blog (http://www.futurebird.com/2015/80cc-yix ... om-review/)

The teapot was wrapped in very cheap fake silk and it had "authenticity papers" which is a bit much for a pot that is at best half-handmade. (I'll see if my husband can decode them) But, don't get me wrong, the construction of this pot is decent. It is functional, pours well, good lid fit, all of those things are correct. (Also, half-handmade is not an insult unless a pot is being pass off as fully handmade which it was not.)

And looking at it. It seems to be made in the slab building method traditional to yixing teapots. No evidence of slip-casting or other foolishness.

But smelling the inside of the teapot there is an oder of sharp terracotta not a chemical smell, but it is a smell. I thought a new teapot should be odorless? I also wonder if a pot needs extensive "seasoning" how good can it be? a few rinses in hot water were enough for my better pots...

I have seasoned the pot in boiling water with some oolong tea and the oder is now gone. But, I do not think I will get any more pots at this price point that are brand new.

This pot was more attractive than I expected for the price, but I will forever wonder about it because of the flower pot smell.

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The next teapot I got was from a shop on etsy called chinateashop. It's suppoes to be Di Cao Qing clay, and that seem plausible.



It came in an even nicer box. This pot cost $90



In this case the clay was very good, no issues... but the spout broke in transit! The seller graciously agreed to send a new teapot. So, I will do a full review then. This one is larger 260ml (for when my husband says "make me some too!" he gulps tea...drives me nuts more more more... I hope this pot can keep up. )

[theroots]

The teapot was wrapped in very cheap fake silk

I never understood why they always use those cheap and cheesy materials in China which even have a bad finish. That's why I love japanese ceramics: A simple but nice wooden box and other natural material.

I thought a new teapot should be odorless?

They indeed should, at least more or less.

[BW85]

This pot was more attractive than I expected for the price, but I will forever wonder about it because of the flower pot smell.

I can't help but being skeptical of modern clay. Especially at low prices.... Any actual zisha that is mined in yixing now days should be fairly valuable, even in its raw state, shouldn't it?

[Tead Off]

Smells can be attributed to all kinds of things, some of them quite harmless. I would say the pot you got is fine. After you boiled it, the smell was gone. This would indicate just a superficial exposure to something. It could of been something in the room it was stored in.

Trying to figure out what kind of clay is used in modern pots is very difficult unless you have a direct line to the maker who can then tell you exactly what was used. Looking at your pot, I don't see anything 'funny' about it.

[kyarazen]

This pot was more attractive than I expected for the price, but I will forever wonder about it because of the flower pot smell.

I can't help but being skeptical of modern clay. Especially at low prices.... Any actual zisha that is mined in yixing now days should be fairly valuable, even in its raw state, shouldn't it?

ah.. not too incredible in price. have two colleagues from jiangsu/wuxi, got them to take a look around when they were back in china last month, raw material of a small pot is probably 100 RMB, for a big pot a couple hundred RMB. material is sold by weight.

however because of the tediousness with working with purple clay, its now blended for spinning. the only guys working with molding or handmaking are those "artisans" that ask several thousand to tens of thousand rmb per pot.

[kyarazen]

clay smell is ok... takes a while to get rid of. the more well fired the pot the faster the smell disappears. perfectly fired pots are almost odourless until you add some water to it for the first time, there's this "土气” that emerges momentarily and goes away quickly.

[futurebird]

I still make teapots and I'm always looking for clay sources. Tell them to make an etsy shop and sell some clay!

[kyarazen]

I still make teapots and I'm always looking for clay sources. Tell them to make an etsy shop and sell some clay!

if it wasnt a risky/troublesome process i would have gotten kilograms of the material already. some of my students are pretty good with handmaking things out of polymer clay.

[JBaymore]

[the only guys working with molding or handmaking are those "artisans" that ask several thousand to tens of thousand rmb per pot.

I've been trying to get that point across here since I returned from my time presenting and exhibiting in Yixing. Thanks for saying it again.

"You get what you pay for."

best,

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

[JBaymore]

[if it wasnt a risky/troublesome process i would have gotten kilograms of the material already. some of my students are pretty good with handmaking things out of polymer clay.

http://www.chineseclayart.com/ChineseCl ... erials.asp

[kyarazen]

[if it wasnt a risky/troublesome process i would have gotten kilograms of the material already. some of my students are pretty good with handmaking things out of polymer clay.

http://www.chineseclayart.com/ChineseCl ... erials.asp

thanks for the link not the type i'm looking for but i might get some for fun

[JBaymore]

[thanks for the link not the type i'm looking for but i might get some for fun

If you want the "good stuff" you'll have to make some friends actually IN Yixing.

I'm also guessing that at least 50% of the wares made IN Yixing at the moment are of the same quality clays that my friend is importing there. Or worse.

best,

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

[futurebird]

[if it wasnt a risky/troublesome process i would have gotten kilograms of the material already. some of my students are pretty good with handmaking things out of polymer clay.

http://www.chineseclayart.com/ChineseCl ... erials.asp

thanks for the link not the type i'm looking for but i might get some for fun

The plain one is OK for practice, I've used it. The colors are not terribly natural. I still want better sources.

[JBaymore]

[The colors are not terribly natural. I still want better sources.

You mean like these in the Yixing Pottery Museum and World Pottery Museum ?

Xie Man Lun

XieManLun-Yixing.jpg (9.81 KiB) Viewed 2394 times

Ding Ya Ping

DingYaPing.jpg (10.19 KiB) Viewed 2394 times

Wei Zhong Yun

WeiZhongYun.jpg (11.58 KiB) Viewed 2394 times

Best,

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

[futurebird]

Are those artificially or naturally colored? (not that all artificial colors are toxic or bad, but I'm more interested in functional pottery than beautiful art.)