Turtle yixing

[shogun89]

Hello everyone.
I was looking around for a new yixing teapot and found this one and thought it was pretty neat. Any opinions?

http://tinyurl.com/46vye8

Thanks!!!!

[Wesli]

Quality probably = -1

But, if what you want is style over function, and like the way that looks...

[Salsero]

Quality probably = -1

Harsh, dude, very harsh.

[betta]

Harsh, dude, very harsh.

Agree

[Salsero]

Any opinions?

LOL, I say get the pot. It's cute, it's funny, it seems very Chinese, and the only way to know if it makes good tea is to try it out ...and frankly the odds that it does make good tea are way in your favor. Just don't make any for Wesli! He was having an uncharacteristically crabby moment there.

A good place to look at a million pots, many at astonishingly low prices, is the ebay store
http://stores.ebay.com/Chinese-Teapot-G ... ea-Culture

Suerte and bon courage.

[Mary R]

It was a little harsh, but Wes did say what I was thinking...

I have seen this pot at a Teavana store, and I was not impressed. I mimed pouring from it because it was so unusual looking and I found that it had poor hand balance and actually put too much strain on my wrist. The lid's also heavy...you must use two hands for this pot, lest the lid tip off and shatter.

I can really only see a collector of unusual teapots having any real 'use' for it. For the same price, you can find tons of other pots that will be much less functionally problematic. You can even find them in yixing if that's your thing.

[shogun89]

Mary: other than balance did it seem OK?

[Salsero]

I have to hold the lid on all my pots when I pour, otherwise they would fall off and break.

[tenuki]

Just get this, yixing pets are cool, and you can put it on your tea sink while you gongfu and use a real pot instead.

clicky....

[Wesli]

That little guy is sweet. I would leave him on his back.

Sorry if I came up as harsh. I figure you've got a great resource of experts here, and that we should shed light on the truth, even if it is harsh. I don't mean to break a dream, but that was the truth. I just want you to know that if you go for an artsy pot at that price, you're going to be sacrificing greatly on quality. Now that you know, you can choose which is more important to you.

[Salsero]

Sorry ... Now that you know, you can choose which is more important to you.

Wesli is redeemed! Three cheers for Wesli!

[Mary R]

Mary: other than balance did it seem OK?

It will hold water, I suppose, but that isn't to be construed as a ringing endorsement. I think it will eventually get the job done...but the balance will be even more of an issue when it's full, and I'm not a fan of the long, low, squat style of pot for an all-purpose pot. Of course, yixing really shouldn't be an all-purpose pot anyway.

Sal--I usually have to hold the lid on all my pots, too. But in my opinion, a finger from the hand holding the handle should be enough to stabilize the pot lid. The lid on this one is weighty enough or has its center of gravity displaced enough that you need two hands.

Tenuki--Aw! I want a yixing pet! (Probably will be the only sort of pet I can keep alive.)

Wes--Good words o'wisdom.

[chamekke]

Actually, there's some value to buying pottery that is imperfect (if your budget allows it). It helps you to learn what to look for - and what's really important to you.

My tea ceremony group once held a chawan "show and tell" in which we brought in one or two teabowls each. I chose teabowls (early purchases) that were less than ideal, just so that my teacher could explain to us why they were unsuitable (this one had a foot that was too shallow to be gripped; that one was far too heavy; this one had a roughened surface that made it difficult to wipe with the chakin [linen cloth], and so on).

We learned just as much from the "bad" examples as the "good" ones!

shogun89, if the pleasure of looking at your turtle yixing is likely to outweigh any difficulties you have in preparing tea in it, then by all means buy it. If it's awkward to serve from, you'll learn very quickly what features are essential to you, and which don't matter so much. In any case you'll have a yixing teapot that will make a great conversation piece.

[shogun89]

Thanks everybody for your replies, they have helped me on much this difficult decision. I leaning towards getting it. How bad could it really be? not to mention i wont be using it every day maybe once a week. But if anybody has some sources of where to get other yixing's pleae put them down.
Thanks again!

[Salsero]

If you were choosing a husband, I'd say think it over. But this is like choosing a lover, let the moment take you. You will never regret it.







(oops, reverse the genders if you are male!)