Handmade Ribbed Form Yixing Zisha Teapot – Zhuni Clay, 110ml

This is a 110 ml ribbed form teapot in Zhuni Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 半菊.

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 Ribbed Form (筋纹器) dates to the traditional category, attributed to various. Ribbed work divides the body into equal lobes running from knob to foot. The lid must align with the body on every rib, in any rotation. Rhythmic and demanding. The test is whether the lid still lines up after a quarter turn.

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 oolong, dancong and green tea.

This pot. Catalogue no. 420, 110 ml, US$1000. Photographed individually — the images show the pot you receive.

Made by 王涛. 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

• Handmade Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 150 ml, $620
• Handmade San Zu Chu Piao Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zhuni Clay, 130 ml, $500
• Handmade Ribbed Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Aged Zini Clay, 150 ml, $750

Or browse every Zhuni pot · the full Yixing catalogue.