Handmade Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot – Qinghui Duanni Clay, 110ml

This is a 110 ml artisan design teapot in Qinghui Duanni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 斑竹.

The clay. A grey-toned duanni, quiet and matte where the golden varieties are bright. Open-bodied and understated.

The form. The subject here is mottled bamboo — in Chinese decorative vocabulary, the tear-stained bamboo of the Xiang River legend. 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. Built entirely by hand — the wall is beaten out from a slab and joined without a mould. Inside the body you can still read the tool marks and the joint line, which is how the method is verified.

Size and tea. 110 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 green tea, raw pu-erh and white tea.

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. 411, 110 ml, US$300. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by 宁云. 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

• Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 120 ml, $380
• Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 90 ml, $380
• Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 150 ml, $380

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