Modern Lao Zhuni pot?

[GARCH]

Hi all!

It’s been a longgg time since I last posted in Teachat. Sadly life has caught up with me and I was too busy. However now I am getting back to tea drinking and am enjoying
the respite it offers me from the day to day worries (:
This post is to show off/enquire about a pot I acquired maybe 2 years back but only recently did I start using it.

It’s a custom pot I requested to be made by Chen Tu-Gen, Si Ting shape small pot (120ml approx.), thin walled and made from Lao Zhuni.
Additional gold décor for aesthetic value (:















All in all, I really adore using this pot! The way it feels in the hand, the tenderness of the clay and the arc of water when It pours out from the spout.
The pour time is slightly long at 11-12secs but it remains constant even if I pack it with 9 grams of Dancong or Yancha.
It might be blasphemy but I enjoy using this pot so much that I brew sheng Pu-erh, Dancong, Yancha and Taiwan rolled oolongs in it too.
Not exactly great for the Taiwan rolled oolongs though as there is not much space for the leaves to unfurl, so I can’t “pack” the pot like I do with Yancha and Dancong.

Now for the questions….has anyone actually heard of the artist Chen Tu-Gen and his Zhuni clay quality? Btw Si Ting seems to be one of his trademark pot shapes.

The pot is claimed to be made from Qing/Ming Zhuni or at least something approximating that quality but I am under no illusions that the Qing/Ming part is true.
However the clay quality to my inexperienced hands and eyes at least is definitely very good (how good I am not sure), miles better than those Taobao modern Zhuni pots.
Also there are many small black specks in the Zhuni which I am not sure if it’s normal for the clay. I know Zisha will have so called little Tie Xing (iron stars) in the clay.

Really appreciate any help or info I can obtain on this (:

[kyarazen]

nice pot bro! is the trimmings pure gold or brass?

Hi all!

It’s been a longgg time since I last posted in Teachat. Sadly life has caught up with me and I was too busy. However now I am getting back to tea drinking and am enjoying
the respite it offers me from the day to day worries (:
This post is to show off/enquire about a pot I acquired maybe 2 years back but only recently did I start using it.

It’s a custom pot I requested to be made by Chen Tu-Gen, Si Ting shape small pot (120ml approx.), thin walled and made from Lao Zhuni.
Additional gold décor for aesthetic value (:

All in all, I really adore using this pot! The way it feels in the hand, the tenderness of the clay and the arc of water when It pours out from the spout.
The pour time is slightly long at 11-12secs but it remains constant even if I pack it with 9 grams of Dancong or Yancha.
It might be blasphemy but I enjoy using this pot so much that I brew sheng Pu-erh, Dancong, Yancha and Taiwan rolled oolongs in it too.
Not exactly great for the Taiwan rolled oolongs though as there is not much space for the leaves to unfurl, so I can’t “pack” the pot like I do with Yancha and Dancong.

Now for the questions….has anyone actually heard of the artist Chen Tu-Gen and his Zhuni clay quality? Btw Si Ting seems to be one of his trademark pot shapes.

The pot is claimed to be made from Qing/Ming Zhuni or at least something approximating that quality but I am under no illusions that the Qing/Ming part is true.
However the clay quality to my inexperienced hands and eyes at least is definitely very good (how good I am not sure), miles better than those Taobao modern Zhuni pots.
Also there are many small black specks in the Zhuni which I am not sure if it’s normal for the clay. I know Zisha will have so called little Tie Xing (iron stars) in the clay.

Really appreciate any help or info I can obtain on this (:

[GARCH]

nice pot bro! is the trimmings pure gold or brass?

Hi all!


Really appreciate any help or info I can obtain on this (:

Thank you, you're too kind! I think you have many more nice old pots than I do

They're pure gold leaf trimmings. Well....at least that's what I requested, but as usual caveat emptor

[jayinhk]

I'd take the lao zhuni claim with a grain of salt. Looks good, though, and I've never seen that many black spots in modern zhuni, although there is no reason why they couldn't make that happen by altering their recipe a little! I love si ting pots and the gold is gorgeous! Lovely little pot.

[Alex]

Agree Si ting is the GOAT!

[GARCH]

And my heart broke into more pieces than these.......

[Bok]

Shiii……………t!
Kintsugi? Probably worth the effort and expense.
And as it already has gold, I imagine it looking rather nice afterwards.

[GARCH]

Shiii……………t!
Kintsugi? Probably worth the effort and expense.
And as it already has gold, I imagine it looking rather nice afterwards.

Yeah I am looking at that option too. Considering it shattered into so many pieces I wonder how much it will cost me to piece it back.
On a positive note though I have always wanted to see how the inner layer of the clay looks like.
Now I know.

[jayinhk]

I guess you could also send the teapot back to China to have a new lid made?

I feel like I'm jinxing myself, but I have been very lucky and have yet to destroy a pot. I snapped the handle off an 80s F1 pin zini shuiping, but fixed it with JB Weld and I can't even tell it's broken most days since the break is only visible from one side, and isn't visible at all when I'm using it.

[Drax]

No....! So sad....

I would definitely recommend kintsugi... with a gold seam, it stands a chance of looking really great.

[kyarazen]

Yeah I am looking at that option too. Considering it shattered into so many pieces I wonder how much it will cost me to piece it back.
On a positive note though I have always wanted to see how the inner layer of the clay looks like.
Now I know.

eeek!!

why not try it yourself although handling urushi can cause a little bit of allergy

if your pot is precisely made, i.e the lid fit to the pot is almost seamless in terms of the lip diameter vs the rim of the mouth then kintsugi is challenging because it does increase the diameter a little bit. but if you have sufficient clearance i.e. there's a millimetre odd of jiggle then you can safely go kintsugi

[jayinhk]

You could always sand down the inner rim of the lid if it was too large after kintsugi. Lots of sandpaper and patience would get you there.

[kyarazen]

You could always sand down the inner rim of the lid if it was too large after kintsugi. Lots of sandpaper and patience would get you there.

yeah that will work too but it will make the thin rim.. really brittle and.. soon it will chip and need to be kint again.. :X

[jayinhk]

You could always sand down the inner rim of the lid if it was too large after kintsugi. Lots of sandpaper and patience would get you there.

yeah that will work too but it will make the thin rim.. really brittle and.. soon it will chip and need to be kint again.. :X

Depends how much sanding is required! Either way, he should give it a shot.

[GARCH]

Yeah I am looking at that option too. Considering it shattered into so many pieces I wonder how much it will cost me to piece it back.
On a positive note though I have always wanted to see how the inner layer of the clay looks like.
Now I know.

eeek!!

why not try it yourself although handling urushi can cause a little bit of allergy

if your pot is precisely made, i.e the lid fit to the pot is almost seamless in terms of the lip diameter vs the rim of the mouth then kintsugi is challenging because it does increase the diameter a little bit. but if you have sufficient clearance i.e. there's a millimetre odd of jiggle then you can safely go kintsugi

Depends how much sanding is required! Either way, he should give it a shot.

Hmm I remember that there was a bit of wiggle room but sanding might not be possible as the rim is pretty thin. Almost like eggshell porcelain kinda thickness
Trying kintsugi myself will be really challenging hahaha.
Looks like this thread is gonna be an ongoing project from a normal pot, to broken and then to repaired

Btw kyarazen I guess I will never forget how your huang jin gui sample tastes like as I was on my first brew with it when this happened