Hello again, all, and thanks for that warm welcome!

As I'm planning the ol' Christmas list and thinking about (daydreaming,
really!) all the different Yixing teapots I'd like to have someday, I'm
wondering...

I would really like to purchase a few more Yixing teapots soon--I'm not
looking for highly collectible pieces, nor am I looking for absolute
bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I'm hoping for something in the $40-$100
range, although I'd be willing to go a bit higher for something highly
recommended and truly lovely.

Circumstances require that I use the internet rather than choosing
these pots in person, and I'm well aware of the rampant fakery and
lower-grade issues when dealing with Yixing pots.

That said, I have two questions:

First, are the rather generic teapots sold at the Imperial Tea Court's
website and the Tao of Tea's website legitimately Yixing? They are
labeled thusly, and are likely mold produced, but some of them are
rather pretty...are they Yixing clay, and can (most of) the benefits of
a Yixing teapot be derived from them? Or am I better off with a less
"mainstream," standarized merchant?

Secondly, does anyone have any other trustworthy online vendors for
Yixing teapots? I know that Jing Teashop, Hou De, and M & J's are
highly recommended, and I'm certainly going to look at all of those,
but I (being the American with the high sense of entitlement that I am)
do enjoy having lots of choices when it comes to something like this.
Therefore, if anyone has any other merchants that they would trust or
that they've had a good experience with when it comes to Yixing
teapots, please do let me know.

Thanks very much!

Tess

http://teadonism.wordpress.com

Hi Tess. I know you are already aware of Jing's, but I just wanted to
give another vote for them. I got a very nice yixing from them
recently and I'm really happy with it. They sell good midrange stuff.
Hou De seems to be more targeted towards real collectors. If you are
just starting out, I would go a little cheaper.

The mass-produced ones that come in two colors or with pandas or frogs
on them really suck. You will find that often the lids don't fit
correctly or they don't pour well. As to teh quality of the tea that
comes out of them, I can't imagine that they are using the best clay,
and according to my limited understanding, that's the whole point.

Tess wrote:
> Hello again, all, and thanks for that warm welcome!
>
> As I'm planning the ol' Christmas list and thinking about (daydreaming,
> really!) all the different Yixing teapots I'd like to have someday, I'm
> wondering...
>
> I would really like to purchase a few more Yixing teapots soon--I'm not
> looking for highly collectible pieces, nor am I looking for absolute
> bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I'm hoping for something in the $40-$100
> range, although I'd be willing to go a bit higher for something highly
> recommended and truly lovely.
>
> Circumstances require that I use the internet rather than choosing
> these pots in person, and I'm well aware of the rampant fakery and
> lower-grade issues when dealing with Yixing pots.
>
> That said, I have two questions:
>
> First, are the rather generic teapots sold at the Imperial Tea Court's
> website and the Tao of Tea's website legitimately Yixing? They are
> labeled thusly, and are likely mold produced, but some of them are
> rather pretty...are they Yixing clay, and can (most of) the benefits of
> a Yixing teapot be derived from them? Or am I better off with a less
> "mainstream," standarized merchant?
>
> Secondly, does anyone have any other trustworthy online vendors for
> Yixing teapots? I know that Jing Teashop, Hou De, and M & J's are
> highly recommended, and I'm certainly going to look at all of those,
> but I (being the American with the high sense of entitlement that I am)
> do enjoy having lots of choices when it comes to something like this.
> Therefore, if anyone has any other merchants that they would trust or
> that they've had a good experience with when it comes to Yixing
> teapots, please do let me know.
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Tess
>
> http://teadonism.wordpress.com

Tess wrote:
> Hello again, all, and thanks for that warm welcome!
>
> As I'm planning the ol' Christmas list and thinking about (daydreaming,
> really!) all the different Yixing teapots I'd like to have someday, I'm
> wondering...
>
> I would really like to purchase a few more Yixing teapots soon--I'm not
> looking for highly collectible pieces, nor am I looking for absolute
> bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I'm hoping for something in the $40-$100
> range, although I'd be willing to go a bit higher for something highly
> recommended and truly lovely.
>
> Circumstances require that I use the internet rather than choosing
> these pots in person, and I'm well aware of the rampant fakery and
> lower-grade issues when dealing with Yixing pots.
>
> That said, I have two questions:
>
> First, are the rather generic teapots sold at the Imperial Tea Court's
> website and the Tao of Tea's website legitimately Yixing? They are
> labeled thusly, and are likely mold produced, but some of them are
> rather pretty...are they Yixing clay, and can (most of) the benefits of
> a Yixing teapot be derived from them? Or am I better off with a less
> "mainstream," standarized merchant?
>
> Secondly, does anyone have any other trustworthy online vendors for
> Yixing teapots? I know that Jing Teashop, Hou De, and M & J's are
> highly recommended, and I'm certainly going to look at all of those,
> but I (being the American with the high sense of entitlement that I am)
> do enjoy having lots of choices when it comes to something like this.
> Therefore, if anyone has any other merchants that they would trust or
> that they've had a good experience with when it comes to Yixing
> teapots, please do let me know.
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Tess
>
> http://teadonism.wordpress.com

I've been collecting and using Yixing for a number of years, and I have
never bought one online. Even though I live in Pittsburgh, where there
is no hope of cultural diversity or interest, I can find four places to
buy decent Yixing... so I would think just about anyone should. In one
local mall during Christmas time we have a temporary Chinese
furniture/import store that comes in, and they actually carry some of
the best Yixing I've seen and at fair prices... which is pretty
impressive. I've now become friends with the one owner and she has
explained that she brings back better quality Yixing and prices them
fairly to let people see and own proper quality Yixing. She detests the
junk and fake Yixing she sees. That is a rarity though, and I feel
fortunate to deal with her.

There is a small coffee shop (Nicholas Coffee) in Pittsburgh, they have
a website http://www.nicholascoffee.com (but not anywhere near
indicative of their actual Yixing selection, it may be worth calling
them though if you know what you want), that has just started selling
Yixing. mid to lower quality but very low prices, I've bought a few
select pieces from him.

I know there is a website called Yixing.com and one that has the word
"fun" in the title (if you google "Yixing" it is one of the top
returned). Just understand that without seeing and touching it first,
you should expect it to be lower quality and just be happy when it is
not. My limit would be $30-40 for a teapot bought online without some
verification of authenticity and quality.

Always properly season your pot before using it, even a cheaper one.

- Dominic

Another odd place to look for Yixing is a large metro area art museum.
I first got mine over ten years ago authenicated by the curator from an
invoice. Everytime I go back they still have a selection around $50.
The trick I've learned is ask to buy two of the same. If they bring
out the second then you know it is a factory mold. I've seen plenty of
these perfectly acceptable molds from Yixing but don't pay over $25.
If I'm paying for a mold it better at least have a chop mark with a
ringing lid. The problem online you can't inspect before buying.
Yixing is light,thin and resonate. Glazing is an absolute no-no.
Check Google for previous excellent posts on Yixing.

Jim

Dominic T. wrote:
> I've been collecting and using Yixing for a number of years, and I have
> never bought one online. Even though I live in Pittsburgh, where there
> is no hope of cultural diversity or interest
....I wack but I'm not a butcher...

Hi Tess,
I don't think I can contribute much except recommending the reputable
ones you mentioned. One more I can mention is redblossomtea.com which
have some selection of teapots too. They have a physical store in San
Fransisco chinatown. I went there last month and found teapots are
about average to good quality.

(The Direct Route)
A while ago, I tried to buy two teapots from a part-time teaport in
China directly. The difficult part was to send money to him and he
didn't want to risk breaking his pots as his margin was probably thin.
So I ended up asking a traveling friend to hand carry them back to the
US for me instead. The teapots are suprisingly in good quality for
about $40USD each and I wanted more. So I kept talking to him and he
became a friend of mine. Recently, he is interested in shipping a set
of teapots over here to see if I can sell them out for him. But this
is just a prelimary and we still have to find out the shipping in
larger quantility and import duty issue. If this deal can really work
out, you may have one more choice of great yixing teapots.

Btw, his pots range from $30 to $400 USD, and I bought the lowend ones.
And this is not an advertisement, but I just want to share my
experience/story to people who are interested in mid-high end yixing
teapots in the US.

~goldfish


Tess wrote:
> Hello again, all, and thanks for that warm welcome!
>
> As I'm planning the ol' Christmas list and thinking about (daydreaming,
> really!) all the different Yixing teapots I'd like to have someday, I'm
> wondering...
>
> I would really like to purchase a few more Yixing teapots soon--I'm not
> looking for highly collectible pieces, nor am I looking for absolute
> bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I'm hoping for something in the $40-$100
> range, although I'd be willing to go a bit higher for something highly
> recommended and truly lovely.
>
> Circumstances require that I use the internet rather than choosing
> these pots in person, and I'm well aware of the rampant fakery and
> lower-grade issues when dealing with Yixing pots.
>
> That said, I have two questions:
>
> First, are the rather generic teapots sold at the Imperial Tea Court's
> website and the Tao of Tea's website legitimately Yixing? They are
> labeled thusly, and are likely mold produced, but some of them are
> rather pretty...are they Yixing clay, and can (most of) the benefits of
> a Yixing teapot be derived from them? Or am I better off with a less
> "mainstream," standarized merchant?
>
> Secondly, does anyone have any other trustworthy online vendors for
> Yixing teapots? I know that Jing Teashop, Hou De, and M & J's are
> highly recommended, and I'm certainly going to look at all of those,
> but I (being the American with the high sense of entitlement that I am)
> do enjoy having lots of choices when it comes to something like this.
> Therefore, if anyone has any other merchants that they would trust or
> that they've had a good experience with when it comes to Yixing
> teapots, please do let me know.
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Tess
>
> http://teadonism.wordpress.com

Hey all,

When talking about collecting teapots, I thought I could give some
inputs on Yixing teapots as I spend most of my days with pu erh and
yixing teapot collectors who have done that for many decades.

Nowadays, teapots collecting can be serparated into two major ways:

- Beautifully made and/or new designed by new generation potters with
everything in perfect balance and proportion. In this case, the
appearance is the most important thing.

- Good quality and/or aged clay teapots that were made from the Yixing
teapot factories, or teapots that are made by using the same type of
clays from the factories but with some "unknown" potters/workshops that
were retired from the factories. In this case, teapots could be a
little bit "twisty" or even leaking a bit from the lid etc. But they
can brew a good cup of tea and increase the flavor of the tea.

- There is the third one, antique teapots. For this one, you need a
very good eye and need to know the yixing teapot history and clay very
well. Because there are plenty of fake antique teapots on the market
and even in reputable auctions. They can have any type of seals
under/inside/on anywhere of the teapot to shout: I am a real piece!
However, by knowing the way of making, the size of the works of the
period, the texture and the COLOR of the works, one can probably point
out some problems from a lot of "antiques".

Most of the time, the first case will cost a fortune, for those from
the potters that has different ranges of certified grading and/or from
a famous familly. However, these beautiful works are not neccesory made
of good quality clay. The second case is really hard to find but
surprisely the price is a lot more fair than the first case.

Regarding "antique" and aged teapots, beware. Those cannot be found on
the market but only via collectors network. Just to give an idea, a
mid 1980's Yixing teapot factory pot, that was not made by a famous
maker at that time can go for $565.00 (price for friend) and you will
only get those if you know someone who has this type of piece and if he
is willing to sell it!

Jing

> (The Direct Route)
> A while ago, I tried to buy two teapots from a part-time teaport in
> China directly. The difficult part was to send money to him and he
> didn't want to risk breaking his pots as his margin was probably thin.
> So I ended up asking a traveling friend to hand carry them back to the
> US for me instead. The teapots are suprisingly in good quality for
> about $40USD each and I wanted more. So I kept talking to him and he
> became a friend of mine. Recently, he is interested in shipping a set
> of teapots over here to see if I can sell them out for him. But this
> is just a prelimary and we still have to find out the shipping in
> larger quantility and import duty issue. If this deal can really work
> out, you may have one more choice of great yixing teapots.
>
> Btw, his pots range from $30 to $400 USD, and I bought the lowend ones.
> And this is not an advertisement, but I just want to share my
> experience/story to people who are interested in mid-high end yixing
> teapots in the US.
>
> ~goldfish

Hi goldfish,

Do we get to know who this vendor is? Does he have a
web site? Are there pictures to look at? Or perhaps this
is privileged information.

Best,
Michael

> Regarding "antique" and aged teapots, beware. Those cannot be found on
> the market but only via collectors network. Just to give an idea, a
> mid 1980's Yixing teapot factory pot, that was not made by a famous
> maker at that time can go for $565.00 (price for friend) and you will
> only get those if you know someone who has this type of piece and if he
> is willing to sell it!
>
> Jing

And, to add to what s/he says, you can all thank the Taiwanese and Hong
Kongers for the price structure. About 10-15 years ago, many Taiwanese
business guys came over and bought up a huge supply of good clay and
good pots. The mainland factories started to produce a huge amount of
pots to keep up with market and basically flooded themselves out. You
are seeing this now also with Pu'er.

I just hope the Pu'er market fares better than what happened to the
zisha clay market.

8/14/06


> And, to add to what s/he says, you can all thank the Taiwanese and Hong
> Kongers for the price structure. About 10-15 years ago, many Taiwanese
> business guys came over and bought up a huge supply of good clay and
> good pots. The mainland factories started to produce a huge amount of
> pots to keep up with market and basically flooded themselves out. You
> are seeing this now also with Pu'er.
>
> I just hope the Pu'er market fares better than what happened to the
> zisha clay market.

My understanding is that much of the best clay has been mined out, so the
clays of today, being inferior, are worth less; this is not to say that
prices reflect this. Is any of this true? I seriously wonder whether
equally good clays are available today.
Michael