Treasured Teapots

TURN a small zisha teapot in your hand, admire its design, its deep purple color, exquisite carving and seal. Strike it and hear a tiny metallic ping. Smell the embedded fragrance of green tea, writes Weng Shihui.

Little brown teapots abound in China, but look closely: Many are works of art that are famed for their rich and varied earthen tones, intricate craftsmanship and their ability to brew marvelous tea.

Zisha (literally “purple sand”) teapots are legendary for their porous purple clay that absorbs the taste and oil of green tea leaves. The tea made in a zisha pot gets better and better over time. It’s said that you can just pour boiling water into a fine old pot, no tea leaves needed, and savor the resulting tea. The porous clay absorbs tea.

When you strike it, a good zisha pot makes a small metallic ping because of its high mineral content of iron, plus quartz and mica. Ordinary pottery won’t sound the same. Zisha is also very strong.

With use and handling, teapots become more beautiful and burnished, the color becomes brighter.

A superior antique zisha teapot can fetch thousands of yuan. One collector’s pot is valued at US$400,000, but many charming old and contemporary pots are available.

Zisha teapots are for green tea only. Authentic zisha teapots come from rocks mined on Qinglong Mountain and Huanglong Mountain in Jiangsu Province’s southern city of Yixing. They are ground into a mineral paste, not actually a clay.

Though it’s called “purple sand,” it’s not actually sand and it’s found in deep purplish brown, cinnabar red, russet, terra cotta and green. “The best clay is mined in large rocks of the mountain and now it’s a limited resource. Bad news,” says potter Zhang Liqiang, 28.

Yixing lies 190 kilometers west to Shanghai, west of Taihu Lake.

It is said that zisha clay was first produced around Taihu Lake in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

As the tea culture flourished in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, Yixing was hailed as China’s “pottery capital.”

In the 1970s, Taiwanese businessmen poured into Yixing in search of the special purple sand, as Taiwanese people are as passionate about tea as their compatriots.

Zisha clay is also known as “five-color clay,” because Yixing clay occurs naturally in five characteristic colors, from brownish purple to terra cotta. Other colors are created by mixing the clays or adding mineral pigments. Iron content increases depth of color.

According to Zhang, a contracted artist of Shanghai Montartall Creative Design Co, benshanlu, or green clay, is the most valuable because it’s scarce.

In the old days, the best pots were made from clay that was pounded by craftsmen using mallets to remove air bubbles. Finished teapots have a smooth, not shiny, and slightly grainy surface.

In the Ming Dynasty, 1,000-milliliter zisha teapots were used daily. In the Qing Dynasty, pots were made smaller so that everyone could have their own. Many can fit in the palm of the hand. Teapot lovers like to hold and admire them.

For hundreds of years, zisha teapots have been considered superior to other types of teapots for brewing tea. Zisha teapots were popular imperial tributes to Qing Emperor Qianlong.

Chen Shouzhen (1858-1939) was one of the great teapot masters. His cinnabar-red zuanqiu teapot, in the shape of a ball with a hemispherical lid and a round handle, was his magnum opus.

It’s owned by the Yixing Zisha Arts and Crafts Factory and could fetch a million yuan (US$142,857), experts say.

What is especially appealing about this traditional vessel is its combination of calligraphy, painting, literature and seal engraving. Several arts are embodied in one teapot.

Ancient landscapes, flowers, classic beauties, creatures and poetry are incised into the clay. Some bear enamel inlays.

Many of today’s Yixing teapots reflect contemporary themes; modern artisans produce not only replicas but also create new and innovative designs.

Zhang Liqiang’s wife Qin Jun, also a teapot artisan, creates shapes from pumpkins to dragons.

P roduction areas

Prime purple zisha clay is mined in the rocks of Qinglong and Huanglong mountains in Yixing, Jiangsu Province.

V alue

Value depends on the reputation of the artist. Refined workmanship and “literati” taste elevated this drinking vessel into a cultural symbol.

It is said the most expensive teapot is the one made by Shao Daheng, a Qing Dynasty master featuring a bamboo-shaped pot and a dragon shaped-handle. It is valued at around US$400,000 and is owned by a private collector.

P reparing your teapot

First, clean the new pot with boiling water to remove particles. Second, brew a pot of tea with boiling water. Let it cool. Empty the pot of tea and leaves. It’s ready for use.

C aring for a zisha teapot

1. Remove tea leaves and rinse with hot water after every use. Do not let tea leaves stand in the pot overnight.

2. Don’t use soap or detergents. Use soft fabric or cotton to clean.

3. Allow it to dry completely inside out after every use.

5. Nourish the pot surface with green tea, as the porous material can absorb tea on both inside and outside.

6. Allow the teapot to “rest” for three to five days after intensive use.

F inding a good zisha teapot

1. The quality of zisha clay is important. Pure material should be porous, with a true color and smooth touch.

2. It should ping when you strike it lightly. Regular clay pots won’t ping.

3. The spout and the lid should be level.

4. Find the master’s name. The value depends on the artist’s reputation. The name seal is usually stamped on the bottom, the lid or at the handle.

This article was taken from: Shanghai Daily