Handmade Zhu Shi Zhou Pan Yixing Zisha Teapot – Zini Clay, 150ml

This is a 150 ml zhou pan teapot in Zini Clay, fully handmade, made in Dingshu, Yixing. Its Chinese name is 竹石周盘.

The clay. Zini is the foundational Yixing clay — purple-brown, mined at Huanglong Mountain, and the most forgiving of all the ores. It is highly plastic, notably porous, and develops a patina faster than most clays. Even-tempered and genuinely versatile. It rounds out a brew rather than sharpening it, which makes it a safe first pot for someone who drinks several kinds of tea.

The form. The Zhou Pan form (周盘) dates to the Qing dynasty, Jiaqing–Daoguang era, attributed to Chen Mansheng and Yang Pengnian. One of the eighteen Mansheng forms. The body is a broad flat disc, taken from the shape of a compass plate — the instrument that finds true direction. Wide, low and quiet, with a strong horizontal reading on the tray.

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. 150 ml serves two to three people from a single fill, which makes it the most generally useful size on a tea table. Best suited to pu-erh, black tea and aged oolong.

This pot. Catalogue no. 398, 150 ml, US$300. 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 Sculptural Form Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zini Clay, 100 ml, $350
• Handmade Artisan Design Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zini Clay, 100 ml, $250
• Lianzi Yixing Zisha Teapot — Zini Clay, 150 ml, $400

Or browse every Zini pot · the full Yixing catalogue.