Handmade Square Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 80ml

This is a 80 ml square form teapot in Dicaoqing Zini Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 文竹四方.

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 Square Form (方器) dates to the traditional category, attributed to various. Square work is the harder half of the craft: every plane must be cut, joined and trued by hand, and any error shows along the whole edge. Crisp arrises and flat faces. Judged on whether the seams disappear.

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 80 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. 360, 80 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.

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

Similar teapots

• Handmade Square Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Aged Zini Clay, 140 ml, $700
• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 50 ml, $550
• Handmade Hanwa Yixing Zisha Teapot — Dicaoqing Zini Clay, 70 ml, $350

Or browse every Dicaoqing Zini pot · the full Yixing catalogue.