Handmade Hand-Grip Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Tianqingni Clay, 65ml

This is a 65 ml hand-grip form teapot in Tianqingni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 太湖石宝瓶.

The clay. A legendary zini recorded in Ming-dynasty texts and now genuinely scarce. It fires to a deep, quiet blue-green cast with a faint purple glow and a very fine grain. Understated. The appeal is in the restraint — an aged, still quality rather than anything showy.

The form. The Hand-Grip Form (手抓壶) dates to the contemporary, attributed to contemporary makers. Built to be held by the body rather than a handle — the grip is worked into the form itself. Unusually direct in the hand. You feel the wall thickness and the heat of the tea as you pour.

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. At 65 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 aged pu-erh, aged oolong and white tea.

This pot. Catalogue no. 330, 65 ml, US$500. 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

• Zhou Pan Yixing Zisha Teapot — Tianqingni Clay, 120 ml, $400
• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Tianqingni Clay, 150 ml, $800
• Hand-Grip Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Golden Duanni Clay, 100 ml, $350

Or browse every Tianqingni pot · the full Yixing catalogue.