Where to buy Yixings made out of REAL yixing clay

[trent]

Words can't describe how hard of hard of a time I'm having finding yixing pots made out of real yixing clay.

So far, I only know of three vendors selling authentic yixing-ware:
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 25d6e7c79a
http://www.jingteashop.com/cat_teapots.cfm
http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2005/07/ ... #comments/

Do you guys know of any others?

[betta]

Trent, look at Rishi because one of the sources you wrote above has acquired his pots from the same taiwanese supplier with Rishi's but Rishi sells at more affordable price.
I heard it's more difficult to differentiate fake new pot than old one, try to ask couple of the senior members here. Hop goblin, chrl42, marshaln (please don't shoot me for mentioning your names) have clearly more experience in this. I'm confused somewhere on the way to learn this

[trent]

Thanks, I really like the rishi yixings, however, they're a little bit too big for me.

I like tea in very small quantities, so I'm looking for 100ml or slightly smaller pots.

[Mary R]

I'll second the above listed users and add an extra endorsement to marshaln. If you do have an hour or so to spend, his blog is an excellent resource and can teach you more than you ever thought possible. I swear, he posts something just about every day. It might just be the most complete master chronicle of one person's tea journey available on the internet.

[greenisgood]

I bought a Rishi high handle yixing thats 5oz and about perfect size for me. Its my second yixing and seems of much better quality than my first bought at a local vendor. I use it for da hong pao and it works very well.

[Salsero]

salsero ... have clearly more experience in this. I'm confused somewhere on the way to learn this

Don't expect much from me. I am as ignorant as anyone about yixing. As much as I love my own, they are inexpensive and serviceable. You can, however, replace my name with BearsBearsBears at least when he is not BusyBusyBusy.

[britt]

Words can't describe how hard of hard of a time I'm having finding yixing pots made out of real yixing clay.

So far, I only know of three vendors selling authentic yixing-ware:
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 25d6e7c79a
http://www.jingteashop.com/cat_teapots.cfm
http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2005/07/ ... #comments/

Do you guys know of any others?

I'm sorry I can't add to the list with any certainty, as I now have 13 Yixing teapots and 12 came from Hou De Asian and 1 from Jing Tea Shop. Any I purchased prior to finding these two vendors were given away.

Although I haven't purchased from him, Shan Shui Teas has a few interesting ones listed under collector's pots. Some specify the clay while others don't.

[trent]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... dZViewItem
Is this pot real hong ni?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Huang-Ni-Xi-Shi-125 ... dZViewItem
Is this real huang ni?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... dZViewItem
Is this real zhuni? (I doubt it)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
Are these real hei ni?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-120ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
Is this real hei zhu ni?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... m153.l1262
Is this real huang ni?


Thanks for the help, and sorry for the bombardment of questions.

[chrl42]

[quote="trent"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... dZViewItem
Is this pot real hong ni?

- It's hard to judge just by color/texture from the picture frankly, however possibility of having real Hongni pot at 12 bucks can be very rare even in China.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Huang-Ni-Xi-Shi-125 ... dZViewItem
Is this real huang ni?

- No such thing as Huangni exists, but it's called Duanni. Duanni is also very rare clay to have it at 12 bucks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... dZViewItem
Is this real zhuni? (I doubt it)

- method used on that is called 'tiao sha', meaning mixing with particle of prolly Duanni. Like I said, I would believe anypot made of Qin Shui ni or Zini with that price but Zhuni.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-125ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
Are these real hei ni?

- Original Heini(black clay) is not black at all, what's called Heini on the market is made from containing manganese oxide to make it all-black. So it's hard to judge just by color. But their price is more expensive than pre-displayed pots(I wonder?), seller's pride? - means something

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-120ml-Teapot ... dZViewItem
Is this real hei zhu ni?

- I've never heard Hei Zhuni before, but then anyone can mix heini and zhuni and put a name. So, I have no idea of its originality.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Yixing-teapot-125ml ... m153.l1262
Is this real huang ni?

- Duanni, mixture of Zini and Liuni, tends to show very unfiltered texture with lots of mica, quartz, manganese particles. And then price thingy again..

[Salsero]

Is there any way that anyone can know anything about these pots? It seems even more confusing than Traditional Chinese Medicine!

[tenuki]

Is there any way that anyone can know anything about these pots? It seems even more confusing than Traditional Chinese Medicine!

The degree of certainty regarding authenticity is directly proportional to how confident you are it's authentic.

[Salsero]

Is there any way that anyone can know anything about these pots? It seems even more confusing than Traditional Chinese Medicine!

The degree of certainty regarding authenticity is directly proportional to how confident you are it's authentic.

I knew I could understand it if someone just explained it in layman's terms!

[chrl42]

Is there any way that anyone can know anything about these pots? It seems even more confusing than Traditional Chinese Medicine!

The degree of certainty regarding authenticity is directly proportional to how confident you are it's authentic.

I knew I could understand it if someone just explained it in layman's terms!

Salsero, I always liked your everyday pics on teaday. It seems like lots of confusing over Yixing and it's normal.

Same thing happened in Korea too, Puerh and Yixing teapots are 2 things that come right to the head aching. In early 90's, with a boom of Puerh, lots of Puerh sellers appeared and advertised their stuffs are best. Price exaggerations, fake teas, wrong informations...10 yrs later, with numerous attemps on translations, studies, inviting Chinese professors, exhibitions, now it's settled somehow, so a store that cheats 7542 won't survive in the market.

But America seems to be still chaotic when it comes to these stuffs.

Anyways, I want to say something if it could inform anyone on the planet.
Yixing clay is a clay from Yixing, China. But not every clay from Yixing is worth using to make into teapots. Most of em are used to make a vase, ceramics and less than 0.1% of those clay qualified to make for teapots.

5-color clay, black, red, green, yellow and purple, is called typical yixing ore. But that was named before coming into a kiln. So Liuni(green clay) made teapot won't be green in appearance at all.

Hei ni(black clay) - rare in existance, comes out dark brown out of a kiln. Like I said, all-blackish on the market are one with artificial chemicals.

Hong ni(red clay) - classified as Hongni and Zhuni. Those are different clay from different places. Almost same in color (red) but different shrinkage during heating process in a kiln. Hongni is less than 10% and Zhuni can be up to 30%. So that wrinkled, glossy, high-tone Zhuni characterics can be born.

Zini(purple clay) - most common yixing clay. color out of kiln is brown.

Liuni(green clay) - Liuni is a rare clay and exists as a sinew. nickname is this clay is 'sinew of dragon..(?)'. original Liuni is very rare and costs more than Zhuni.

Huangni(yellow clay) - also known as Duanni. Duanni exists just below zini and above liuni. Original Duanni is even rarer than Liuni, so most of Duanni are intentional mix of Liuni and Zini.

Those are JUST basic classifications, but because clay is so hard to draw the line of its certainty and purity, lots of other mutation can come out and named. For example, Tian Qing ni or Da Hong Pao ni is a kind just existed for few yrs and costs more than a gold - Chinese thing. Anyway..I typed too much so I gotta get a cup of tea

[britt]

Is there any way that anyone can know anything about these pots? It seems even more confusing than Traditional Chinese Medicine!

It is very frustrating so I rely on an expert to do the homework for me. That's why I mostly buy older Yixings from Guang at Hou De Asian. I consider him to be an expert on Chinese-Taiwanese tea and teaware. He also writes articles for The Art of Tea magazine, which is another great source of Yixing info.

Just as confusing as the authenticity and clay issue is which size, shape, clay, thickness, and weight of an Yixing is best for a given tea. I've been amazed at how difficult it was to get a proper Yixing for lightly oxidized high mountain oolongs from Taiwan.

Another forum member had questions about Hong Ni authenticity on $12 Yixings. All I will say is that I have 13 Yixings and many are Hong Ni. I paid at least $95 for each one.

[Bert]

I can't give you another source with reliable yixings but share my experience with pots from two of the given sources.

The pots from teamasters are great. I have the qiu shui hungni hu and the shi piao zisha hu and am very satisfied with them. They are not cheap but worth the money.

To the pots from yunnan sourcing:
I have a yellow clay teapot for $11 but I won't use it anymore because the lid does not fit enough to prevent the dripping of a lot of tea.
Then I have the "lao zhu ni" shi piao for $32. I used it for aged sheng puer but will use it for shu from now because it is too big for me (>15 infusions à 120 ml).
I like it, the shape is ok and it has thick walls wich keep the heat.

About the clay:
I have very few practical knowledge about yixing clay but I think the clay is "ok" for the price. The pots do not smell and sound clear/stonelike when hit. Tea taste is good. The yellow clay seems to be very porous, the "zhu ni" not so. On the surface on the zhu ni hu some shrinkage lines are visible.
The craftman seems to be very confident about the clay, on the bottom of the pot is carved that the clay is zhu ni from 92.

Have a nice day.