Gourd Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Xiekeqing Clay, 200ml
Gourd Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Xiekeqing Clay, 200ml
This is a 200 ml gourd form teapot in Xiekeqing Clay, wood-fired, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 如意葫芦.
The clay. Named for its colour — the blue-grey of a crab shell. A cool, muted body with a fine sandy grain, most often seen wood-fired, where the ash brings the grey to life. Sits between duanni's openness and zini's steadiness, and stays visually calm on a crowded tea table.
The form. The subject here is gourd — in Chinese decorative vocabulary, a pun on fu-lu — good fortune and rank. 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. Fired in a wood kiln, where flame path and falling ash decide the surface. Every piece comes out of the kiln differently, and none of it can be repeated on purpose.
Size and tea. 200 ml is a sharing pot. It suits a table of four or more, or a long single steep of something you want to drink slowly over an afternoon. Best suited to raw pu-erh, light oolong and green tea.
This pot. Catalogue no. 201, 200 ml, US$80. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.
Made by 刘群. We buy directly from the workshop rather than through a wholesaler, so the attribution comes with the pot.
| Clay | Xiekeqing Clay (蟹壳青) |
|---|---|
| Form | Gourd Form (葫芦) |
| Capacity | 200 ml |
| Craft | Wood-fired (柴烧) |
| Origin | Dingshu, Yixing, Jiangsu, China |
| Catalogue no. | 201 |
New to zisha? Read how to season a Yixing teapot before first use.
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