Yixing hype

I had an enlightening discussion last weekend. I had set out to buy a new Yixing-teapot. The salesperson of the teashop told me that the ressources of superior Yixing-clay have been totally depleted for decades now. New Yixing-teapots are in fact ordinary clay ones. Therefore, the price difference with e.g. Taiwanese teapots would not be justified.

I believe the person to be totally trustworthy: I have bought exquisite Oolong teas from her shop a dozen of times and have never felt deceived.

Are there people out there who have heard similar stories?

Cheers, Erwin

Reply to
eRwin
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Erwin,

I've heard so many different and conflicting stories that I'm thoroughly confused. Logic, and what I know about clay, tells me that there is probably a good bit of excellent YiXing clay at least stored away and available to potters, but most likely for a price. Beyond that, I work with vendors I trust and some I trust thoroughly.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

I haven't seen any indication of Yixing clay shortage. There is cheap Yixing and expensive Yixing. The factory molds are cheap the hand made expensive. My local art museum sells authentic handmade Yixing. I was there a month ago and the prices were around $50 for a purple theme stylized 100ml pot. If you're not particular about the color you can find them in the Chinese tourist shops much cheaper. I buy loose semi-precious stones and part of the pitch you learn to ignore is the perceived rarity. If someone is steering you to something more expensive because of the rarity just walk away. Google this group on what you should look for in Yixing. I prefer the fit,finish,ring of the lid test.

Jim

eRw> I had an enlightening discussion last weekend. I had set out to buy a

exquisite

Reply to
Space Cowboy

"During the sixteenth century, in the town of Yixing, in the Jiangsu province of China, potters began to attract considerable attention for their reddish brown, unglazed stonewares, especially the small teapots. Decoration on Yixing ware is usually incised, stamped, carved in low relief, or built up with layers of slip (liquid clay)."

As they say, POTTERS began attracting attention, not clay type. The quality and beauty of a yixing pot is what attracts attention, not some magical property in the clay. Considering mass-produced teapots go for $20-$30, is $50 too much to spend for a good teapot? I don't think so. Is $500 to much to spend on a good teapot? Probably. You can get high quality 'yixing' teapots for under $60, and that's about the maximum I would spend on one.

Plus, I just got a quality yixing pot. The clay is a beautiful red, it's very hard, it rings when I tap it, it absorbs the flavor of my pu-er. It's obviously high quality. What more does one need to have?

Reply to
Falky foo

Where have you seen a difference ? At equal quality of design, they usually are in the same range of price. But, you get a larger choice in Mainland teapots than in Taiwanese ones.

Kuri

Reply to
kuri

magical

I beg to differ. For me, the only thing that would matter in the selection of a teapot, is the quality of the clay (off course: the pot should pour perfectly and the lid should fit the pot evenly - I consider these to be a priori criteria). As to the design, I couldn't care less. One of the main qualities of good clay would be the degree of micro-porousness, so as to effectively soak in the flavours of the specific tea to be brewed in the pot.

While I have an array of Taiwanese pots (exactly 40euro's each) at hand for my oolongs, I was convinced that Yixing-clay would be superior in quality, which appearantly is not the case.

Cheers, Erwin

Considering mass-produced teapots go for $20-$30, is

'yixing'

exquisite

Reply to
eRwin

well, if all you care about is clay "quality" then I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed. The difference between "high" quality clay and "average" quality clay ain't all that much these days. ALL unglazed clay pots have "micro-porousness," as you call it. In fact, anything made of any clay anywhere ever has "micro-porousness." That's what clay is. All modern first- and second-world slip-molded pots are going to have almost exactly the same clay quality, no matter what you pay for them. 100 years ago, sure, there was some bad clay. These days, refinement and processing assure smooth, quality clay at very low prices. So if, in your myopic zeal, you're only looking for "high-quality" clay then you can find what you're looking for at the local ten-cent store, if you can find a pot there that's unglazed.

I, personally, am interested in the aesthetic beauty and enjoyment that comes from using a well designed and well built hand-made (or mostly hand-made) pot. The color, the design, the feel of the pot are very important for that. The clay itself is a very minor point.

Reply to
Falky foo

No. Well, not exactly.

There are three varieties of Yixing clay and while the Zhu Ni, the vermilion red, has been depleted, there are still the Duan Ni/Banshanlu Ni (yellow, ranging from creamy white to yellow-brown) and the Zisha (purple/bluish to red-brown) which is reputed to be the best for teapots.

There are many knock-offs representing themselves to be Yixing that have similar forms and designs w/o the real clay. However, authentic Yixing pots are still available.

Buyer beware.

Reply to
Bluesea

What made you change your mind? Yixing clay has properties that many others still hold in the highest esteem such as its unique chemical composition (high iron content, kaolin, mica, quartz), general sturdiness and ability to withstand high temperatures w/o cracking, good heat- and flavor-retention, low thermal conductivity, rate of water absorption, etc.

Dude, go for it!

Reply to
Bluesea

I've also heard that there are green and black, but I don't know to which variety of Yixing clay to attribute them.

Reply to
Bluesea

Thanks for the clarifying answer!

Cheers, Erwin

Bluesea wrote:

exquisite

(purple/bluish to

Yixing pots

Reply to
eRwin

Wow, this is getting good. For my part, I know so little about the subtleties of YiXing clays, but my instincts go with Falky foo, although who knows where the truth lies. When I choose a teapot, it has to feel right to my hand and eye and to the tea it will drink. So, the aesthetics of the pot are important to me. I think the potter's hand is *very* important, so important that I would accept a lesser clay from a potter whose work I especially like.

Michael

Falky fooBxUNd.2564$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net2/7/05

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Reply to
Michael Plant

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