Alert

Those were glazed zisha cups.. I'd avoid glazed ware from China and India.

When did glazed zisha become en vogue. It's been a while but mine are unglazed. Even my generic red terracotta pots are unglazed. If someone is selling me glazed zisha I'd suspect the origin. I know Chinese pottery paint has lead but that is normally glazed over making safe for use. You can have a glaze with Chinese paint on top and that is an absolute no-no for use only decorative.

Jim

I don't really get the point of glazing zisha either. Maybe a glazed outside but then you wouldn't be worried about the lead leaching into the tea would you?

And since I like to see my tea against a white background when I'm drinking it, I don't buy zisha cups anyhow, just plain ceramic.

You all assume that Zisha = teapot, which it is not. Zisha is "Yixing clay". I put it in "" because it is actually not clay but a paste that is made from a clayish sandy rock that is found in Yixing, China.. And while there is no point of glazing teapots (chahu), there are zisha gaiwans, chabeis, wenxiangbeis, chahai and other "zisha teaware", besides teapots (chahu).

Sasha.

I'm thinking of fired glazed "Yixing clay" which too me would be an anomaly. There is no reason to glaze Yixing in any application. The only source of lead in pottery is Chinese paint. That's a known problem which needs glazing. In Chinatown I see Yixing sets of pot, cup, tray with no glazing. I think where there is glaze there is paint and a fake. Possibly in a commercial application such as a restaurant you might find glazed Yixing but I'd still think a fake. I could take any greenware, apply purple Chinese paint, fire and glaze for a 'glazed' Yixing look. The glaze is important not for health reason but to prevent scratching revealing nonYixing substrate. You can usually see signs of painting at bases of cups,pots,bowls,trays.

Jim

Space snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com9/23/04

Taking off from Jim's thoughts about lead, it is important to note:

If a component of a pot, be it clay or glaze or oxides painted under or over the glaze, contains lead which is not fritted (stablized) then the person who drinks from or eats from that pot is in danger of exposure to the lead. Glaze will not protect. There are reasons which are technical. Alaric will explain if need be.

Michael

In fact I always heard it was the glaze itself that has the lead in it.

This problem is common for purchasing Chinese plates for use or decoration. If paint is fired first then fired second with glaze then okay for use. If fired together then decorative. If fired painted and unglazed then decorative. If paint on glaze then decorative. Normally packaging will indicate decorative only. I came across a Chinese site for Yixing and the only English for one of the pots 'drink emergency required'. Yixing historically has been exported to other countries for Western market 'finishing'. So glaze and paint indicate a second stop.

Jim

That's absolutely right. Many people coming to know tea think that all clay teapots are made Zisha. It really isn't so. There are several types of Yixing clay, and Zisha is the most common and popular amongst them. When the popularity of the Yixing clay rose with the demand for its pots, quarries in the neighbouring regions are also mined for clay as close to soil structure as Yixing. To achieve the success in the final products, other minerals - iron is the common ingredient - is added to the clay to give it a richer colour and sturdier texture.

The sandy rock is mined and broken into clumps, which is then mixed with water into a clay-like putty and then set to work. Sometimes to achieve the required 'feel' of the pot, the clay putty is set aside for up to several decades before it's taken out to work on.

Samar.