Yixing teapot question

those freak me out. at first I thought it was the clay but it's evidently something different.. I don't trust yixings that aren't just the plain clay.

Well, they look glazed to me, which makes them less than traditional and not really what people mean when they refer to a yi-xing pot.

It looks funny because people are used to seeing pottery with fairly thick, high gloss slip glazes. My ceramics experience is limited, but I'd guess that they were bisque fired and then rubbed down or painted with a thin glaze and then fired again, rather than slip glazed, to give the semigloss, matte surface.

Not a bad look, but it's nontraditional, and it's not clear from the photos whether they glazed the inside of the pot, which would really preclude it from being a yi-xing type pot.

If anyone is really curious, I have a friend who's a ceramics nut, and can probably tell from the picture exactly how they were made.

The vast majority of yixings that I have seen here in the US are fakes.

--scott

I don't think they're glazed -I think it's the light causing that effect. In fact, I have seen similar patina on yixing before.

The site says these pots are 50+ years old. If true, they're priced reasonably. Maybe a good deal here, although I would talk to the vendor about provenance regarding these pots.....p*

If these pots are 50 years old and real yixing, the price is stupendously, unbelievably low.

it does tend to strain credulity, huh? ...........p*

Oh I didn't see that...heh, if I had seen that I wouldn't have bothered asking. It would have told me there was something fishy. :P

Melinda

those teapots are fake antiques. the "finish" that you see on the outside of the pot is a black polish which is not good for the tea, let alone your health. if you buy any of those teapots use them ONLY FOR DECORATION. i offer genuine, unglazed, clay only yixing zisha teapots direct from china. you can contact me should you wish to see them.

To: Alaric,

I have a website where you can view some of my teapots while my eBay store carries several more to choose from.

To: Alaric,

I have a website where you can view some of my teapots while my eBay store carries several more to choose from.

Dan snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com5/26/05

Dan,

No apology required. We'll just consider this fortuitous and informational.

I had bought several pots from Dan. They are slip molded, well made, eggshell thin, and wonderful for the Dan Congs of Phoenix Mountain. They are also growing quite beautiful over time. Personally, I like the simplest most classic designs; I don't like the modern geometric and animalmorphic types. That's just my taste. These fancy ass pots seem to have become the norm among the "masters" of late, probably following the market. Dan, what's your opinion of this?

Michael

Michael,

Our "fortuitous" encounter reminds me of that song from long ago, how did it go again... oh yeah, "it's a small world afterall". I recently found this Google group (I know I know where the hell I have I been) of fellow tea drinkers and I must say that its been an enjoyable experience (goes great with some tea.. ahem.. no pun intended). I completely agree with your take on teapots. Sometimes I wonder where these people get their inspiration. I guess it all boils down to artisans wanting and needing to make money. Regardless of the awful teapot designs these days, they do seem to appeal to most people. Maybe we're just "old school" in our thinking.

Dan

Sorry, but this isn't a Google group. It isn't a Yahoo group either, nor a Microsoft group. It's a Usenet group, and it doesn't belong to anyone, which is one of the reasons some of us like it. Google provides a nice service in archiving Usenet, and it might work well as a means of reading and posting - I haven't tried it for that - but Google doesn't own Usenet.

Speaking of "old school", Usenet is old indeed; it antedates the World Wide Web. So welcome to our old school!

/Lew

Thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected.

Dan -

As a geologist i attempted several times to find anything serious on petrology of Yixing clayey sandstone (zisha), but to no avail. My understanding that it is a very unique eposit of ancient lakes situated on top of glaciers where very well-rounded and uniformal quartz and was interlayered with fine clays probably of volcanic origin (weathered basalts?). have you seen any geological references on this subject? I would prefer English (French or Russian, all the same) because my geological Chinese is awful. But if there is no other, I would take the Chinese refs.

Thanks a million.

Also, Mike Petro sent me a message from you that never regsitered on my news server (I am investigating this) Here it is: Hello folks:), I had no idea my post would generate this much response so I will try to answer it all here. First of all there is one glaring error (my fault) I will address up front. I enjoyed Sashas' comment espeacially. The word that goes in there is "recieve". Also, my wife, XiaoLing, wants to know how you know that Sasha?:) I say that because the basic chemical elements undergo specific changes and behave in specific ways with the proper heating, reheating, etcetera. .......................................................

I have no idea what comment of mine you are talking about (thread? date?). I will gladly answer your wife's question the moment I understand what is it all about.

Sasha.