Another yixing pot

[calder]

What are peoples opinions on this pot 19th c?

[calder]

More pics.

[Stan]

Hi Calder, I do not know much about Yixing tea pots, but recently I purchased a couple of them, I did not pay much, dose yours have a hole in the lid, I believe that when they poured the tea they held their finger over the hole and the lids are air tight this gave the one pouring the tea control on the amount of tea to be poured the later ones are not air tight or like mine you can't use the hole because the handle on the lid would block your finger so mine must be newer, not sure about your though.
BTW, on the bottom of yours is that a seem running diagonal across the bottom?

[peterp]

I'm afraid this looks like a fake Yixing item. I mean the clay itself does not look authentic in these pictures. Everybody here drinks tea from Yixing teapots, thus we see lots of them, but the clay on the bottom is clearly different from what we usually see. And the workmanship is inferior.

[calder]

Hi Peter, Stan,

Thank you both for your comments.
Stan it seems to have seem.
And yes it has whole in the lid.

[Stan]

Hi Calder, the seem on the bottom would mean it was made in a mould, which would make it much later, and as peter mentioned the quality is so low that the lid was never air tight, I read that the good ones have air tight lids and when you are pouring the tea if your finger is  on the hole it will stop or slow the tea from being poured, I really don't know how true that is maybe Peter can verify, if true that would be one way to spot a fake.

[peterp]

Stan, I have never seen anyone do what you describe. The hole is just an air hole. What you describe is impractical with many types of teapots. And, the content can also be poured with the hole stopped. Not all lids do have a hole. Whether a lid is tight or not is more related to the shape of the pot/lid rim shape. My book lists at least six different rim shapes. With some it is necessary to hold the lid down with one finger when pouring, otherwise it would fall off.
With pots from perhaps 100cc to about 2000cc capacity there are really too many varieties to make it that simple.

[Stan]

I read that on the internet when I was trying to find similar ones like the ones I recently required, I will try to find the article, it sounds like it was a bunk article, thanks Peter, for bring sense to the discussion.

[Hmm]

With tight lid fits, you have to be careful.  It could mean two things.  Either the craftsman was extremely good at handcrafting the piece.  OR it could mean that they used a mold to help assemble the piece, which isn't considered traditional, therefore more modern (prob. at least post 1980s).  I think they also now grind the lids to get a better fit, which they didn't used to do. 

There were certain "tests" that one could perform to see how tight a lid fit was.  One was filling a teapot with water, and then putting your finger over the tea spout hole.  Then flipping the teapot over.  If the lid fell out, it was too loose.  Of course, this is something generally not recommended.  A lot of lids probably have been cracked over the years trying to perform this test. 

But yeah, traditionally they say you can cover the hole to stop the tea from flowing out.  However, I've never done that before, and I don't think anyone else actually does that.  Not sure why you would ever want to do that, because you want to get the tea out generally as quickly as possible to stop the steeping, so that the tea doesn't get astringent or bitter.  Maybe the only reason why you would want to stop the tea from flowing out is if you aren't using a chahai (pitcher) and directly pouring into cups.  I think lately with gongfu cha, there's been somewhat of a trend to get rid of the pitcher, because people think it alters the taste of the tea. 

[Stan]

Thanks Hmm, I found the article, and just like me I took it out of context, what i read the 2nd time said the older Yixing tea pots had snug fit lids and you could fill it and the tea or liquid would not spill if you put your finger over the hole, that is what I read, how true I am not sure but it makes sense if the hole allows air into the pot when pouring then  putting your finger over the hole would cut off the air flow stopping the liquid from spilling, thanks Hmm.

[DavidC]

I think its pure physics. I use a european teapot with a hole in lid. As you pour liquid out, therefore air in to replace. The hole facilitates a smooth pour not much else. The lids are always slightly sloppy even on my chinese qing pots, (no hole). However, a person pouring with any ceremony would always use two hands. One to hold handle and other to support lid from dropping even though european pots mostly come with a tongue knotch which stops the lid falling completely. With some skill a perfect pour is achieved. D

[Hmm]

@stan  I think nowadays it's hard to find pots that don't have pretty tight fitting lids, especially since now most pots these days were aided with the use of a mold.  So I don't think a tight fit is necessarily something you find in older pots.  I think what people do is they actually inspect the clay under a loupe and check for the consistency.  Now with machine mixers, the clay is must more homogeneous than before.  I seem to recall someone saying that they check for shiny flecks.

Also people sometimes actually try to enlarge the air hole by dremel or other tool to get a quicker pour time.  For tea making, the faster it pours out, the more desirable.  Hence you sometimes see people asking pour times.  Under 8-9 secs is considered good.  Obviously though if the tea pot is old, than you probably should do this haha.. 

Anyways, if you are interested in the subject, there's a facebook page for enthusiasts.  www.facebook.com/groups/teapot2/  I don't use facebook, but If I recall the moderator wrote a pretty nice book on the subject which is currently being translated into English.