It's been a really long time since I was last on the hunt for new teaware, but the tea bug bit me late one night (funny how that happens) and I found myself browsing lukevecent's wares on eBay. Before I knew it I had made a new friend.
I was drawn to the unusual shape. The store description was "oblate pearl." As far as I know it isn't any of the classical Chinese designs, but you get the sense that it could be. It's almost the love child of xishi and fanggu. It's round enough for rolled oolongs and wide enough for everything else — great because I don't buy enough teapots to specialize.
The colour of the clay changes a great detail depending on the lighting. Sometimes it's rich dark brown, sometimes it's bright red. The description claims the clay is zini, but I'm not qualified to make that kind of judgment.
It came with a little pamphlet. I need to brush up on my Mandarin! The pot holds 140 mL, which much like the shape is a bit of a compromise — it's big enough for proper gong fu when friends are over, and also big enough for lazy half-ass -fu when I'm drinking alone.
