Hand-made Buddha Duo Zi Yixing Zisha Teapot

A Duo Zi is a large-mouthed container mainly used for storing cooking oils, salt, sauce, and other seasonings, with the idea of portability - the word duo (掇) refers to this movement. This teapot, made in a Duo Zi style, is handmade of Duanni clay in a special elegant shape. The Buddha and Chinese characters hand-carved into the body enhance its value.

Caozhou people enjoy brewing tea in smaller teapot sizes, though a downside of this is that the tea quickly cools off. In order to prevent this, they will often set the teapot into a large bowl of hot water; to avoid water flowing from the bowl and into the pot, the crafter of this teapot designed the spout to point upwards, above the water level.

The Laughing Maitreya is hand-carved into one side, adding a deeper Zen moral to the pot.The Chinese characters (云水禅心), representing free leisure, are hand-carved into the other side.

Material

This Duo Zi teapot is made of Duanni clay, hand-crafted by a local experienced potter with a specialty in making purple clay teapots.

Duan Ni: Duanni, also called Lao Tuanni, is often seen around Huanglong Shan, Yixing, in Jiangsu Province. Aside from being used to make pottery, duanni is often finely ground for use in blends; when fired the clay turns yellow in color, with tiny speckles of red throughout. This type of clay is loose with double air-hole structures within, resulting in smoother cross-ventilation than other types of clay, establishing it as a great choice for usage in teapots.

Origin

Yixing County is known as the Pottery Capital of China for its extensive 6500-year history of the craft. The area boasts abundant resources of argil, tea, bamboo, and charcoal, each of which contributes an important base material for the making of pottery. Yixing Zisha products have earned countless prizes both at home in China as well as abroad, with a few exceptional works presented as national gifts during international diplomacy.