An yixing teapot is an unassuming vessel.
Made of simple unglazed clay, a pot with a simple profile could hide unnoticed in a cabinet full of hand painted porcelain or gold gilded china. In the right hands, however, the yixing clay tea pot becomes one of our most beloved of tea tools.
On one hand, yixing tea pots grew as a symbol of resistance to the overly ornate ceremonies at court. On the other, yixing tea pots can now be worth more than their weight in gold. As other teaware trends come and go, yixing has remained solidly admired for hundreds of years, gaining an official place in tea ceremonies across China.
What is it that draws so many to yixing clay tea pots? If you are considering making yixing a part of your own tea setup, there is much to explore.
What is Yixing Clay?
Special mixtures of rock are mined from designated regions within Yixing and crushed into a fine powder. This powder is mixed with water in large troughs and allowed to sit and rest. The water and rock form a clay mixture that can be used alone as a “single origin” clay such as Ben Shan Lv Ni, or mixed to achieve a specific color, consistency, and luster by adding other clays or minerals to the clay. Some yixing craftsman do their own sourcing, scouting for the right rock deposits, while others work with trusted specialists.
As Yixing grew in popularity from the 1980’s onwards, many of the earliest deposits used have been mined out. “Vintage” clays can still be found in the workshops of older masters who have managed their own acquisition and aging program for fine clay, or in the workshops of their students.
Teapots made from old material tend to be more highly valued, but there is great innovation in seeking out new sources or mixing new combinations to make fine, lustrous clay.
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