Capacity: Approximately 100ml
This is an yixing teapot made from a rarer form of Zhuni clay known as "Dahongpao" for its deep red colour. Dahongpao, like other zhuni clay, is prized for its ability to bring out the best flavours. It is also a very difficult clay to fire as it is more likely to break during the process.
You can read more about Zhuni Dahongpao here, and more about zhuni clay here.
This teapot shape is called Xishi 西施. the teapot was made by Lin Hanpeng and Chen Chunhong Studio. This pot is known as "half-handmade" as the sculptor uses a molding tool to shape the body, and uses his hands for the handle, spout, holes, and smoothing out the body. In fact, no machine was used in it's shaping as the use of the tool is entirely manual.
You can read more about half handmade teapots in our blog entry here.
Preparation Before Use
Yixing Teapots should be prepared before using the first time. This is called "opening the pot". It removes the dust from firing the teapot.
We recommend rinsing the teapot under warm water two or three times, then filling the teapot with boiling water and emptying it out two to three times. After this the teapot is ready for use.