Purple Sand Zisha Teapot

The history of our Zisha teapots is fascinating. Chinese green tea is traditionally extremely very strong brewed to an intensity of flavour equivalent to that of espresso in the West.

For this purpose, specialist handmade miniature Zisha teapots are created by master artist-potters in Yixing, following in the footsteps of a five hundred year-old lineage.

Although the pottery industry in Yixing can be traced back to Neolithic times, the beginnings of the Zisha industry cannot be dated with certainty.  A seventeenth century scholar,  Zhou Gaoqi, cites an anonymous monk from Jinsha Temple (about 40 li Southeast of Yi Shing) who learnt to make Zisha teapots from the local potters.

  Later scholars placed this Jinsha monk in the Zhengde period (1506-21).  The monk made teapots out of Zisha clay and marked them with his fingerprints.  During that time, Wu yishan, a scholar studying for the civil service examinations was staying at the temple.  His young servant, Gongchun learnt the art of teapot making from the unnamed monk.  Gongshun and the monk of Jinsha temple are therefore the first names associated with Yixing ware.  

Other famous potters through the centuries are Dong Han, Zhao Liang, Li maolin, Shu Dabin and Hui Mengchen.

We have a number of these exquisite pieces in our gallery.

(Information found in the The Art of the Yixing Potter, the K. S. Lo Collection, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, published by the Urban council, Hong Kong, 1990.)

Information on how to prepare your new teapot for use, and how to brew tea is available on Wikipedia.