I am very lucky and got this as a beautiful gift from a friend he was in China and purchased this pot in the early 2000's. Unfortunately he didn't have much info on it but that it was zisha. Thought I would share it with the fourm. It's seasoned for puerh tea.
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Re: Beautiful gift yixing pot
If anyone may have a understanding of the signatures or ideas on this one I would appreciate it!
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Re: Beautiful gift yixing pot
Hi Trontron wrote: If anyone may have a understanding of the signatures or ideas on this one I would appreciate it!
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I am new to this chat but I have an immense interest in zisha teapots and have been collecting them for close to 30 years. As I live in Asia, I am lucky to have the opportunity to be closer to the source and to learn and meet with many famous and senior zisha artists.
This pot you have posted is called a 柱础壶 (Zhu4Chu3 Teapot). The shape was derived from a foundation stone used to support pillars in traditional houses in China. The design hence conveys a sense of stability, and the larger lid facilitates the addition and removal of tea leaves.
From the way the lid was hollowed to its thickness, the use of a shape mold was involved in the making of this Teapot. That is common and acceptable, what matters to the tea making is that the zisha and firing is of acceptable quality.
Many collectors strive for fully handmade teapots, while these are available, price is very high and many do not know how to genuinely differentiate a handmade piece. Tools are always required to make a good zisha Teapot, and so to very seasoned collectors, it may even go down to the detail of the tools a craftsman uses, which may sometimes in my opinion be too much of a discussion.
Enjoy the good cup of tea your teapot makes, and all the best in your collecting journey!
Re: Beautiful gift yixing pot
Teawater clay thank you so much for the information. I think it's quite the handsome pot. In my limited experience the clay seems to be good. I was able to take a few more photos. It seems that the inside of the pot has texture. Could this mean that the body is hand made and the lid is cast?
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Re: Beautiful gift yixing pot
Hi Tron
Excluding a fully handmade pot, most other real Yixing clay pots are made using a mould to help achieve the desired consistency in the shape and size. It’s not really like “casting” where something more fluid is poured into a mould, rather the artist first uses a strip of yixing clay and achieves a basic shape of say the pot body and then “smacks” it into shape using various tools into the mould which is often in 2 half’s.
The lines inside the Teapot are typical of most yixing pots that are neatened out internally using a bamboo tool to remove clay left behind in the making process, and are not to be considered indicative of being fully handmade.
Hence based on the above you can start to understand that most yixing clay pots have an element of being handmade, but the process is made faster and easier with moulds and tools. Many very expensive pots by very famous artists are also achieved in the same manner, so we need to learn that it is not a negative on a value of a pot. Many collectors that insist on fully handmade pots just do not understand the process and use methods like feeling the internal of a pot body to detect a “joining line”, which then they naturally assume it is a fully handmade pot. That is an incorrect assumption as the mould can be introduced into the creation process at different stages, which then renders the Teapot as partially handmade.
There are many other signs to look as a total combination to determine if the pot is fully handmade, but the process of doing that distracts a collector from the real joy of owning a Teapot - a good Teapot is one that is asthetically pleasing to the owner, of good clay and firing that enhances the flavour of tea, and of a make that is pleasing to use - i.e the lid is tight and the pour is smooth. I hope this helps you further!
Excluding a fully handmade pot, most other real Yixing clay pots are made using a mould to help achieve the desired consistency in the shape and size. It’s not really like “casting” where something more fluid is poured into a mould, rather the artist first uses a strip of yixing clay and achieves a basic shape of say the pot body and then “smacks” it into shape using various tools into the mould which is often in 2 half’s.
The lines inside the Teapot are typical of most yixing pots that are neatened out internally using a bamboo tool to remove clay left behind in the making process, and are not to be considered indicative of being fully handmade.
Hence based on the above you can start to understand that most yixing clay pots have an element of being handmade, but the process is made faster and easier with moulds and tools. Many very expensive pots by very famous artists are also achieved in the same manner, so we need to learn that it is not a negative on a value of a pot. Many collectors that insist on fully handmade pots just do not understand the process and use methods like feeling the internal of a pot body to detect a “joining line”, which then they naturally assume it is a fully handmade pot. That is an incorrect assumption as the mould can be introduced into the creation process at different stages, which then renders the Teapot as partially handmade.
There are many other signs to look as a total combination to determine if the pot is fully handmade, but the process of doing that distracts a collector from the real joy of owning a Teapot - a good Teapot is one that is asthetically pleasing to the owner, of good clay and firing that enhances the flavour of tea, and of a make that is pleasing to use - i.e the lid is tight and the pour is smooth. I hope this helps you further!
Re: Beautiful gift yixing pot
Teawaterclay,Teawaterclay wrote: Hi Tron
Excluding a fully handmade pot, most other real Yixing clay pots are made using a mould to help achieve the desired consistency in the shape and size. It’s not really like “casting” where something more fluid is poured into a mould, rather the artist first uses a strip of yixing clay and achieves a basic shape of say the pot body and then “smacks” it into shape using various tools into the mould which is often in 2 half’s.
The lines inside the Teapot are typical of most yixing pots that are neatened out internally using a bamboo tool to remove clay left behind in the making process, and are not to be considered indicative of being fully handmade.
Hence based on the above you can start to understand that most yixing clay pots have an element of being handmade, but the process is made faster and easier with moulds and tools. Many very expensive pots by very famous artists are also achieved in the same manner, so we need to learn that it is not a negative on a value of a pot. Many collectors that insist on fully handmade pots just do not understand the process and use methods like feeling the internal of a pot body to detect a “joining line”, which then they naturally assume it is a fully handmade pot. That is an incorrect assumption as the mould can be introduced into the creation process at different stages, which then renders the Teapot as partially handmade.
There are many other signs to look as a total combination to determine if the pot is fully handmade, but the process of doing that distracts a collector from the real joy of owning a Teapot - a good Teapot is one that is asthetically pleasing to the owner, of good clay and firing that enhances the flavour of tea, and of a make that is pleasing to use - i.e the lid is tight and the pour is smooth. I hope this helps you further!
Thank you this is a very insightful post. I learnt a bit more today. I agree at the end of the day if one can make good tea with a pot and the owner likes it that's the key. However in understanding that, its interesting to learn about different pots, compositions, and factors though. helps to understand the beauty in the piece that each of us has.
T