Yixing Clay Teapot (Zisha) – Shi Piao with Plum blossom

Zisha (Purple Clay) Culture & Art is famous for its simplicity, elegance and vividness for hundreds of years. Yixing purple clay craft has a long history and a prosperous culture, for its excellent works handed down from generation to generation. Its artistic value is incomparable.

In China, tea enthusiasts normally own at least 1 or 2 Clay teapots. It is a great pleasure to ‘feed’ or maintain the teapot. The more you use it, the more beautiful and fine it will become. And normally one purple clay pot is only for brewing one type of tea, to achieve the best taste.

Model – Shi Piao(石瓢)

This model’s name is Shi Piao, meaning stone gourd ladle in English. It is is a classic style of purple clay teapot. Shipiao was first called Shi Yao, and “Yao” was interpreted as “a small cooking utensil with handle and flow” in Cihai. “Yao” changed from metal utensils to pottery, which was first seen in the poem “fried tea in the yard” by Su Shi, a great scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

Over a thousand years, many pot makers made Shi Piao in their own style. This product belongs to Jingzhou style, which is created by Gu Jingzhou (1915-1996), who was the most influential Yixing pot artist of China in 20th century.

Plum Blossom

In Chinese culture, the five petals of plum blossom represent five blessings: Luck (福), Career(䘵), longevity(寿), happiness(禧) and wealth(财). Therefore, as a mascot, plum blossom has been widely written into poetry by scholars and painted into works by artists since ancient times.

Clay Painting

Clay painting is a unique decorative process of clay wares. It is to paint on the semi dry body of the clay ware with a brush dipped in thin and delicate mud. The painting could be one color, or more colors. The theme is mostly landscape or flowers. After firing, it has a beautiful artistic conception.

Specification

The capacity is 200ml (10.5oz) and there are 9 holes for the water outlet.

Material & Processing

Precious raw ore named Jin Huang Duan was used as material for making this pot. The mud is dense, firm and moist. The burnt one is golden and dazzling, which is loved by collectors.The particles contained in the mud are large. The structure is loose, and the body is obviously in a double pore structure. The air convection is smooth. Kiln temperature achieved 1150 ℃ (2102℉), while the shrinkage ratio is 14%. The reject rate is about 40%.

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