Handmade Pear-Shaped Yixing Zisha Teapot – Zhuni Clay, 120ml

This is a 120 ml pear-shaped teapot in Zhuni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 高梨.

The clay. Very high in iron, fired to a bright vermilion, and dense enough to ring when the lid is tapped. Zhuni shrinks by up to twenty percent in the kiln, so a large share of every batch cracks — the Yixing saying is that a zhuni pot without wrinkles is not zhuni. Dense and low-porosity, so it holds aroma at the surface instead of absorbing it. This is the clay that makes fragrant teas smell like themselves.

The form. The Pear-Shaped form (梨形) dates to the late Ming to early Qing, attributed to the Mengchen lineage. A classic small zhuni form: narrow above, full below, like a ripe pear hanging on the branch, with a high neck and short spout. Related to sitting, wendan and xishi, but with more of the weight of real fruit low in the body.

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. 120 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 oolong, dancong and green tea.

This pot. Catalogue no. 319, 120 ml, US$260. 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

• Handmade Gongchun Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 150 ml, $199
• Handmade Shuiping Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 80 ml, $240
• Handmade Xishi Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 180 ml, $299

Or browse every Zhuni pot · the full Yixing catalogue.