Handmade Hand-Grip Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Baiyu Duanni Clay, 180ml

This is a 180 ml hand-grip form teapot in Baiyu Duanni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 柿柿如意.

The clay. The palest of the duanni family, firing to a near-white jade tone. The most delicate-looking body in the catalogue, and the one that shows a patina most plainly.

The form. The Hand-Grip Form (手抓壶) dates to the contemporary, attributed to contemporary makers. Built to be held by the body rather than a handle — the grip is worked into the form itself. Unusually direct in the hand. You feel the wall thickness and the heat of the tea as you pour.

How it was made. Built entirely by hand — the wall is beaten out from a slab and joined without a mould. Inside the body you can still read the tool marks and the joint line, which is how the method is verified.

Size and tea. At 180 ml this fills three or four cups at once — enough for guests without moving to a full teapot. Best suited to green tea, white tea and light oolong.

One honest note on duanni-family clays: because the body is pale and very open, dark and heavily roasted teas can leave uneven marks if the pot is handled with oily hands or left wet. Rinse it, dry it, and keep it to lighter teas and it will come up beautifully.

This pot. Catalogue no. 277, 180 ml, US$400. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by an independent Dingshu potter working outside the titled-master system. We do not attach a name we cannot verify.

New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.

Similar teapots

• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Baiyu Duanni Clay, 120 ml, $500
• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Baiyu Duanni Clay, 150 ml, $240
• Handmade Hand-Grip Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Songhua Duanni Clay, 140 ml, $350

Or browse every Baiyu Duanni pot · the full Yixing catalogue.