You can choose the design you prefer and the artist will paint it for you. The actual painting will vary slightly from the designs presented as each one is entirely hand painted. This option requires 2 weeks for production after purchase to allow the artist to paint and fire the design you request.

This zhuni shuiping teapot comes with a diancai 点彩 motif painting applied by a local artist. The design is painted by hand. Please let us know in your order comments which design you would like for your teapot (please see the photos for optional designs and let us know which number). The shape of the teapot will be a 150ml shuiping (the same shape as the teapot used for design option 1). Diancai is a style of ceramic painting applied to the outside of Yixing which is then fired in a kiln.

This is teapot made from the rarer red clay known as "zhuni." As you can see from the photos, zhuni clay has a slight bumpy appearance. The clay will develop a shine from use. Zhuni clay is prized for it's ability to preserve the full spectrum of flavour and fragrance of a tea. It is also the most difficult clay to fire as it is more likely to break during the process.

You can read more about zhuni clay in our blog entry here.

This teapot is the classic "shuiping" style, very popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This pot is known as "half-handmade" as the sculptor uses a molding tool to shape the body, and uses his hands for the handle, spout, holes, and smoothing out the body. In fact, no machine was used in it's shaping as the use of the tool is entirely manual.

You can read more about half handmade teapots in our blog entry here.

This pot holds 160 ml. It was made byLin Hanpeng and Chen Chunhong Studio.

Preparation Before Use

Yixing Teapots should be prepared before using the first time. This is called "opening the pot". It removes the dust from firing the teapot.

We recommend rinsing the teapot under warm water two or three times, then filling the teapot with boiling water and emptying it out two to three times. After this the teapot is ready for use.