Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Aged Duanni Clay, 150ml – No. 317

This is a 150 ml sculptural form teapot in Aged Duanni Clay, fully handmade with hand carving, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 秀竹.

The clay. Weathered duanni ore, which fires warmer and denser than fresh stock while keeping the family's open, sandy structure. Slightly more forgiving than young duanni, with the same clarity on light teas.

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. Built entirely by hand, then carved by hand before firing — both operations done on the same pot by the same maker.

Size and tea. 150 ml serves two to three people from a single fill, which makes it the most generally useful size on a tea table. Best suited to raw pu-erh, green tea 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. 317, 150 ml, US$499. 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

• Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Aged Duanni Clay, 160 ml, $350
• Handmade Pumpkin Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Aged Duanni Clay, 130 ml, $350
• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Duanni Clay, 150 ml, $350

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