Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot – Golden Duanni Clay, 90ml

This is a 90 ml artisan design teapot in Golden Duanni Clay, wood-fired with hand carving, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 古钟.

The clay. The duanni that fires brightest — a clear, luminous gold, with an unusually fine and even grain for the family. Deepens from yellow toward amber as it is used, so the colour of the pot and the colour of the liquor start to answer each other. Best on lighter teas where that can be seen.

The form. The subject here is ancient bell — in Chinese decorative vocabulary, the settled weight of a temple bell. An original design rather than a version of a canonical form. The maker sets the proportions, the line and the ornament. Judged on its own terms rather than against a classical template.

How it was made. Wood-fired, with carving cut by hand before the firing — so the ash settles into the incised lines.

Size and tea. At 90 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 green tea, raw pu-erh and light oolong.

One honest note on duanni-family clays: because the body is pale and very open, dark and heavily roasted teas can leave uneven marks if the pot is handled with oily hands or left wet. Rinse it, dry it, and keep it to lighter teas and it will come up beautifully.

This pot. Catalogue no. 371, 90 ml, US$380. 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

• Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 120 ml, $380
• Handmade Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 130 ml, $350
• Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 150 ml, $380

Or browse every Golden Duanni pot · the full Yixing catalogue.