Rongtian Yixing Zisha Teapot – Aged Zini Clay, 150ml
Rongtian Yixing Zisha Teapot – Aged Zini Clay, 150ml
This is a 150 ml rongtian teapot in Aged Zini Clay, hand-carved, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 容天.
The clay. Zini ore that has been weathered and stored for years before use. The saying in Yixing is that clay grows more supple with age — aged zini works more smoothly on the wheel and fires to a deeper, more settled purple. Mellower than fresh zini. The liquor comes through soft and rounded rather than bright, which is why long-time drinkers tend to gravitate to older stock.
The form. The Rongtian form (容天) dates to the contemporary, attributed to Lü Yaochen. From the couplet about Maitreya — a belly big enough to hold what the world cannot. Round, wide and low. Generous capacity and a fast, clean pour. Cheerful rather than austere.
How it was made. Decoration cut into the leather-hard clay by hand with a steel blade, in the Yixing engraving tradition that goes back to Chen Mansheng's collaborations with potters.
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 ripe pu-erh, aged white tea and black tea.
This pot. Catalogue no. 429, 150 ml, US$450. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.
Made by 王伟. We buy directly from the workshop rather than through a wholesaler, so the attribution comes with the pot.
| Clay | Aged Zini Clay (老紫泥) |
|---|---|
| Form | Rongtian (容天) |
| Capacity | 150 ml |
| Craft | Hand-carved (刻绘) |
| Origin | Dingshu, Yixing, Jiangsu, China |
| Catalogue no. | 429 |
New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.
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Or browse every Aged Zini pot · the full Yixing catalogue.
