Gong Zhu Yixing Zisha Teapot – Golden Zhuni Clay, 100ml

This is a 100 ml zisha teapot in Golden Zhuni Clay, partially handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 供珠.

The clay. Zhuni that fires golden-orange rather than red. Usually made in small capacities, where the shrinkage problem is hardest to control. Shares zhuni's aroma-forward behaviour, in a warmer colour.

The form. This is the Gong Zhu form — 供珠 in Chinese. It is one of the many shapes carried in the Dingshu workshops outside the small set of canonical forms, and it is built by the same slab-and-beat method as the classics. We describe what we can verify: the ore, the method and the proportions.

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. 100 ml is the classic gongfu size — comfortable for one drinker or two sharing small cups, and the volume most Chaoshan-style brewing was built around. Best suited to oolong, dancong and green tea.

This pot. Catalogue no. 026, 100 ml, US$100. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by 门静. 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

• Han Jiang Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 90 ml, $120
• Dezhong Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Zhuni Clay, 100 ml, $100
• Dezhong Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Zhuni Clay, 100 ml, $100

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