Handmade Shuiping Yixing Zisha Teapot – Hei Duntou Clay, 200ml
Handmade Shuiping Yixing Zisha Teapot – Hei Duntou Clay, 200ml
This is a 200 ml shuiping teapot in Hei Duntou Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 水平.
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 Shuiping form (水平) dates to the late Ming to early Qing, attributed to the Hui Mengchen lineage. Built for Chaoshan gongfu tea. When the pot is bathed in hot water it floats level — hence the name. Light, small and one-handed. The standard fitting on a gongfu tray, and almost always made in zhuni.
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. 134, 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.
| Clay | Hei Duntou Clay (黑墩头) |
|---|---|
| Form | Shuiping (水平) |
| Capacity | 200 ml |
| Craft | Fully handmade (全手工) |
| Origin | Dingshu, Yixing, Jiangsu, China |
| Catalogue no. | 134 |
New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.
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