Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 50ml
Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 50ml
This is a 50 ml sculptural form teapot in Dicaoqing Zini Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 松鼠葡萄树桩.
The clay. The most prized layer of the zini seam, cut from the very bottom of the deposit and recognisable by the green 'chicken-eye' inclusions in the raw ore. It fires purple with a green cast and a dense, jade-like surface. Dense yet still breathable — an unusual combination. Collectors seek it out because the patina stays restrained and deepens slowly rather than turning glossy.
The form. The subject here is squirrel and grapevine — in Chinese decorative vocabulary, many seeds, many descendants. Naturalistic work — huaqi — takes its subject from the living world: gourds, pine, bamboo, lotus, fruit, animals. It descends directly from Gongchun's tree-burl pot, the founding object of the craft. Each piece is modelled and carved rather than turned, so no two come out the same.
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 50 ml this is a solo pot. One person, short infusions, and the small volume means you can push a good leaf through eight or ten steeps without ever brewing more than you drink. Best suited to aged pu-erh, yancha and black tea.
This pot. Catalogue no. 446, 50 ml, US$550. 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.
| Clay | Dicaoqing Zini Clay (底槽清) |
|---|---|
| Form | Sculptural Form (仿生器) |
| Capacity | 50 ml |
| Craft | Fully handmade (全手工) |
| Origin | Dingshu, Yixing, Jiangsu, China |
| Catalogue no. | 446 |
New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.
Similar teapots
- Handmade Hanwa Yixing Zisha Teapot — Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 70 ml, $350
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Or browse every Dicaoqing Zini pot · the full Yixing catalogue.
