Volume: Approximately 120ml
This yixing teapot is made from the rarer red clay known as zhuni. As you can see from the photos, zhuni clay has a slight bumpy appearance. The clay will develop a shine from use. Zhuni clay is prized for its ability to preserve the full spectrum of flavour and fragrance of a tea. It is also the most difficult clay to fire as it is more likely to break during the process. This zhuni is original ore zhuni mined in Xiaomeiyou Yixing.
You can read more about zhuni clay in our blog entry 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.
This teapot was made by Lin Hanpeng and Chen Chunhong Studio. The stamp at the bottom of the teapot may vary from that shown in the photos. The teapot stamp may have the mark of Lin Hanpeng, Chen Chunhong or the mark of Mud&Leaves in Chinese Characters: 泥葉堂。 All three stamps are used exclusively in connection with Lin Hanpeng and Chen Chunhong Studio.
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.