Description
 
Yixing Zisha Black Clay Over the Dragon Gate Teapot (220ml)
 
This is is fully handmade with rare yixing black clay. This Over the Dragon Gate Teapot features the gold giant fish flying over the dragon gate showing the energy and spirit of a salmon swimming against the flow. The other side of the pot says : " 魚躍龍門 " meaning Over the Dragon Gate.
 
More information about Yixing Classification can be found : Yixing Clay Type
 
What is Black clay :
Black Clay is a processed purple clay.
 
How is it made :
Artist bury the burned purple clay pot with rice bran, seal it with a sagger, and burn it again. The temperature of the furnace head is below 1000°C. Although the bran is ignited, it cannot be fully burned due to lack of sufficient oxygen. The charcoal in the bran is sucked into the pot to form a black color. This process is called ashing. Since the successful rate is very low and the process is too complicated. These explain the scarcity of black yixing clay pot.
 
The original 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 220ml (+/- 5ml) and features a flat filter with 9 holes and tight-fitting lid. The walls of this teapot are relatively 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.