Description
 
Yixing Zisha Ink Green Clay Big Fish Xishi Teapot (290 ml)
 
This Zishi teapot is fully handmade using rare zisha Green clay ( 綠泥 ) & Purple clay ( 紫泥 ) . The beautiful ink green color is created in the kiln by the high temperature of about 1170 degree Cel. The pot body features the jade green ocean with the moon hanging in the sky and decorated with the stars. The moon as the pot lid is made of purple clay whiel the stars are made of fault clay. This pot is made with the use of 3 different clays and combining them into a poetic picture require a exquaxite skill and effort.
 
Green Clay is produced in the Huanglong Mountain, Yixing, Jiangsu Province. It is produced at the bottom layer of the purple clay sediement ore. Its composition is extremely pure with very fine clay particles. The color is reddish brown. After the closure of Well No. 4 in Huanglongshan, there is an increasing shortage of green clay resources, and the weathered base clay is becoming more and more precious. The kiln temperature is about 1170 ° C, and the shrinkage ratio is about 12%. It is widely used in the famous pots of modern times. It pairs very well with raw /  ripe puerh, oolong tea (light roasted), black tea, green tea etc.
 
This teapot holds approximately 300ml (+/- 5ml) and features a flat filter and tight-fitting lid. The walls of this teapot are relatively thin, but it allows for a very stable and comfortable hand feel that has to be experienced to fully appreciate.
 
Zisha (‘purple sand’) describes the reddish-brown color of the sedimentary soil which settled in ancient lakes and is now buried deep underground. The clay is compressed under heavy sedimentary rock formations throughout the Yixing region, southwest of Shanghai, in China’s Jiangsu province. Huanglong Mountain near Dingshu township has been the source of high quality purple clay ore for centuries. The mountain itself is rather ordinary – neither grand or pretty – but it is 350 million years old.These teapots are prized because their unglazed surfaces absorb traces of the beverage and develop a patina, which enhances the taste, color and aroma of fine tea.