Description
 
Yixing Zisha Aged Purple Clay Joy with Squirrel Teapot (280ml)
 
This Joy with Squirrel Teapot is handmade with top quality purple clay. This Shi Piao Teapot is showing a squirrel searching for a pine cone. On the other side of the pot, it is engraved with "山靜松聲遠", meaning in a quiet maountain, only hear the squirrel squeaking.
 
The 30 year old aged purple mud is the purple clay of Huanglong Mountain. It was refining and aged since the 1980s, and its existence is limited. It is high fired at about 1180 degrees.  After firing, it is slightly purple and reddish inside , the color is mature and stable, dignified and solemn. After the raising,  there is a hint of imperial glaze in the simplicity which makes it one of the most popular clay type. It goes well with most teas including :Light Roasted Oolongs , Raw & Ripe Puerh, Black , White , Green Teas
 
This teapot holds approximately 390ml (+/- 5ml) and features a flat filter and tight-fitting lid. The walls of this teapot are thick,  but it allows for a very stable and comfortable hand feel that has to be experienced to fully appreciate. It also includes a certificate from the artist indicating the artist’s name, teapot shape and clay composition.
 
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.