Another old pot from the inlaws…

[Bok]

…as before from the same stock of “inherited” pots of unknown age or provenance. This one with a classic medium profile Shuiping shape, classic gong fu size(not sure about how many ml). Interesting part is the wrapping of the handle. I have not seen this kind of knotting very often in Taiwan, the more common is the reef knot. For those who don’t know here is how it is done, excellent and easy tutorial: http://puerh-tea.livejournal.com/101478.html

I would like to find a similar for the other knot! If anyone has a clue, please share!

Back to the pot, lid is a tad loose and the part going into the pot not very deep compared to other pots, single hole. Pours very well and the pot does not seem to have any averse effect on any tea I brew with it. It seems to have been heavily used with roast oolong, I can still smell it in the pot.

Anyone any more ideas about what this pot could be? Age, clay?
Any help is much appreciated!

Cheers!
And a good Chinese New Year, lots of time for me to brew tea…

[Bok]

more details:

[Bok]

one more…

[jayinhk]

Clay looks good--got a pic of the seal on the bottom? Any seal inside the lid?

[Bok]

I knew I forgot something... did not remember to take the bottom side, so stupid of me! Pot is back home in Germany

No seal inside the lid though.

[jayinhk]

I knew I forgot something... did not remember to take the bottom side, so stupid of me! Pot is back home in Germany

No seal inside the lid though.

How many characters was the seal/what did it say?

[theredbaron]

My completely unexpert guess would be 70's or 80's, but i might be very wrong. It's looks to me a 2-cup pot, meaning 60/65 ml. The patina has been acquired by 100's if not 1000's of brews, years of making tea - please do NOT treat it with bleach or any other such harsh methods! It's a lovely pot!

[Bok]

My completely unexpert guess would be 70's or 80's, but i might be very wrong. It's looks to me a 2-cup pot, meaning 60/65 ml. The patina has been acquired by 100's if not 1000's of brews, years of making tea - please do NOT treat it with bleach or any other such harsh methods! It's a lovely pot!

Thanks!

I would never use any of those methods to clean a pot, don't worry! I just use it as is

It's true the patina is quite lovely,
Although that might be no indication of age, the person I got it from has a way of using pots so they become gritty in a matter of months... but what makes me think it might be older is the way of the handle is knotted, seems to me like an out-of-fashion way to use, from a generation before him.

[Bok]

Jay, it was a standard Zhongguo Yixing stamp if I remember correctly.

[theredbaron]

My completely unexpert guess would be 70's or 80's, but i might be very wrong. It's looks to me a 2-cup pot, meaning 60/65 ml. The patina has been acquired by 100's if not 1000's of brews, years of making tea - please do NOT treat it with bleach or any other such harsh methods! It's a lovely pot!

Thanks!

I would never use any of those methods to clean a pot, don't worry! I just use it as is

It's true the patina is quite lovely,
Although that might be no indication of age, the person I got it from has a way of using pots so they become gritty in a matter of months... but what makes me think it might be older is the way of the handle is knotted, seems to me like an out-of-fashion way to use, from a generation before him.

As to age, i am not an expert, lets see what the experts will say. But i am glad that you won't fall for this trend here to needlessly treat pots with harsh chemicals to keep them spotlessly clean.

[jayinhk]

If you know the history of the pot there's no reason to try and clean it! I only clean pots when I find them used and have no idea what they've been through. lol. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 70s and 80s pots sometimes didn't have signatures/numbers inside the lids, correct? I have a few 80s shuipings without markings on the lid, but I've seen 70s shuipings with characters and 80s and 90s seem to usually have team numbers on the inside.

[Bok]

Yep, safe to use, stays in the family so to speak...
What I find unusual about this pot is that the inside part of the lid which holds it in place is not as high as they normally tend to be. If it would not be tied to the pot it could slip of easily when pouring the last drops at steep angle.

It is high fired as well, nice ringing sound.

[Bok]

Turns out I had a photo of the seal! Must have overlooked it on my phone... and it doesn't say zhongguo yixing after all.

[jayinhk]

The seal looks like the one on the 60s shuiping I received a few weeks ago. You might have yourself a 1960s pot there.

[steanze]

Hi Bok,

Nice pot, that size is so handy for yancha. There are 6 character seals until the early-mid '60s, then there's a switch to zhongguo yixing (4 character) seals in the late 60s, but 6 character seals come back in the late '70s onwards. Your pot looks like an end '70s to early '80s shuiping.