Bamboo Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Red Jiangponi Clay, 60ml

This is a 60 ml bamboo sculptural form teapot in Red Jiangponi Clay, partially handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 竹桩.

The clay. The warmer end of the jiangponi seam, with more red ore in the mix. Rounder and sweeter, with jiangponi's characteristic quick patina.

The form. The subject here is bamboo — in Chinese decorative vocabulary, an upright, hollow-hearted humility. 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. Formed with the help of a mould for the body, with the spout, handle, lid and finishing worked by hand. A well-made half-handmade pot is a good pot; the difference is in labour, not in whether it brews well.

Size and tea. At 60 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 black tea, ripe pu-erh and roasted oolong.

This pot. Catalogue no. 007, 60 ml, US$200. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by 韩传杰. 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.

Similar teapots

• Qinquan Yixing Zisha Teapot — Red Jiangponi Clay, 150 ml, $101
• Handmade Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Red Jiangponi Clay, 90 ml, $500
• Bamboo Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Qing Duanni Clay, 60 ml, $200

Or browse every Red Jiangponi pot · the full Yixing catalogue.