Handmade Jingzhou Shipiao Yixing Zisha Teapot – Hei Duntou Clay, 200ml

This is a 200 ml shipiao teapot in Hei Duntou Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 景舟石瓢.

The clay. A dark, iron-rich ore that fires nearly black with a matte, stony surface. Heavy in tone and excellent at holding heat, which suits teas that want a long, hot steep.

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. 200 ml is a sharing pot. It suits a table of four or more, or a long single steep of something you want to drink slowly over an afternoon. Best suited to ripe pu-erh, black tea and yancha.

This pot. Catalogue no. 135, 200 ml, US$85. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by 范卫兵. We buy directly from the workshop rather than through a wholesaler, so the attribution comes with the pot.

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

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