Handmade Shipiao Yixing Zisha Teapot – Benshan Luni Clay, 160ml
Handmade Shipiao Yixing Zisha Teapot – Benshan Luni Clay, 160ml
This is a 160 ml shipiao teapot in Benshan Luni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 三足石瓢.
The clay. Cut from a thin green seam inside the zini layer — 'clay within clay, rock within rock'. Scarce, delicate, and with a narrow firing window, so pure-ore pots are genuinely hard to make. Fires a tender yellow-green that turns quietly jade-like with use. A scholar's clay rather than a workhorse.
The form. The Shipiao form (石瓢) dates to the Qing dynasty, Jiaqing–Daoguang era, attributed to Chen Mansheng and Yang Pengnian. Originally called shidiao, one of the eighteen Mansheng forms. The name carries a line from Su Dongpo and a Buddhist idea — of three thousand rivers, one drinks a single gourd. Triangular in profile, flat-bodied, standing on three small feet. Plain to the point of severity, and completely stable on the table. The form most often described as great skill appearing clumsy.
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 160 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 raw pu-erh.
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. 153, 160 ml, US$85. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.
Made by 杨奇隆. We buy directly from the workshop rather than through a wholesaler, so the attribution comes with the pot.
| Clay | Benshan Luni Clay (本山绿泥) |
|---|---|
| Form | Shipiao (石瓢) |
| Capacity | 160 ml |
| Craft | Fully handmade (全手工) |
| Origin | Dingshu, Yixing, Jiangsu, China |
| Catalogue no. | 153 |
New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.
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