Handmade Lotus Seed Yixing Zisha Teapot

The lotus-seed teapot shape is popular among modern tea drinkers, with the style having many derivatives and offshoots: Ru Yi lotus seed, Niu Gai lotus seed, and Ping Gai lotus seed, among others. The different shapes lend credence to the Buddhist idea on the style that the shape of the lotus seed teapot reveals the maker’s thoughts and intents, and that it is this individuality that allows them to create many different takes on the same theme.

Material

Zhu Ni usually appears reddish-brown in color due to its high iron content. It also is highly contractible, making it difficult to shape into a perfect teapot - because of this, manby products have some corrugations and slight deformities. This pot presents a distinctive double-pore surface with tiny corrugations throughout, allowing it to breath and reserve the fragrances of brewed tea. For this reason, it is recommended that only one type of tea is brewed with this pot.

Note: First warm the pot with hot (40-50 C) water before pouring boiling water into it, as Zhu Ni has a high constriction percentage and cannot withstand fast temperature changes.

Maker

Sun Wen is a young female potter born in Dingshu Village, Yixing in Jiangsu Province, an area famous for its pottery. Her parents are experienced craftsmen of the discipline, and served as inspiration for her interest in the art of Yixing purple clay from her childhood. She has always studied hard in order to improve and advance her own workmanship, eventually establishing a quaint, elegant style of her own, including words and pictures carved into the teapot to enhance its meaning.

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.