1. Home
  2. Tea Connoisseur's Forum
  3. Yixing Ware

Yixing Ware

So, my parents gave us a set of yixing teaware for Christmas, labelled "Tang Chaoxing Purple Teapots." They smelled right, the color seemed right, but I really don't have any idea how to tell if this stuff is real or not.

So... I took it into work and asked the mass spectro guys to put it in the machine. They did, and they got this out:

Element % +/-

------- ----- ---- Si 46.08 0.19 Fe 28.31 0.19 Al 21.72 0.20 Ti 2.05 0.14 Mn 2.22 0.06 V 0.22 0.06 P 0.20 0.01 Zr 0.16 0.00 Pb 0.02 0.01

This resulted in all of the nondestructive testing people hanging out and asking "what the hell IS this?" I'm guessing it is real yixing from the high iron content, although now I am really curious what form of iron salt is actually in there. The detectable lead content is probably worrisome to somebody. But what is with the titanium? Does it just come along for free with the alumina?

Anyway, I found this interesting and if this helps anyone else identify yixing ware, feel free to use it. The stuff definitely does have some magnetic properties; it will change inductance of a coil if it's in the middle, like a ferrite. The ND guys kept asking if it was actually a ferrite. I'm not sure what to say...

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey
Loading thread data ...

The "real" red yixing ran out in the 1970s or so. There are several substitutes on the market varying in color from red (not the same lode of clay as the original) to purple to brown. In the past it seems that yixing clay of varying shades was used as well.

Since manufacturers of these products do not seem interested in details about the production of their wares, it's tough to say for certain that we know much of anything about them. The high aluminum content in your sample is suspicious to me though - seems way too high. The Chinese are sneaky and have been known to put all kinds of fillers into things if they can get away with it.

If you can acquire a few samples of the older ware, preferably pre-industrial, and have the mass spectro guys run those too I think it would be most helpful.

Thanks for the post.

Reply to
Oregonian Haruspex

I did not realize that this was the case. This would explain a lot about the current state of the market, indeed.

If I actually had such samples, I would run them, but barr>

That is all.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Very interesting post. Thanks a lot.

I would like to obtain some of the "real deal" but I am afraid that it is going to be difficult to obtain. Keeping my eye on TAS and local thrift stores seems like about all I can do short of prying the wallet open to the tune of several hundred dollars.

Reply to
Oregonian Haruspex

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.