Clay: hongni, ‘red clay’
Potter: no signature (see the story in the description for more on this).
Filter: Single hole, fitted with a stainless steel filter.
Capacity: 120ml
Weight: 98g
 
This teapot has been crafted according to the ‘half-hand’ (半手工) tradition, where the body of the pot is shaped in a gypsum case, while the handle, spout, lid and holes are shaped and fixed entirely by hand.
 
This teapot is made from hongni, or ‘red clay’. The colour of the clay is the result of its rich iron oxide content, bringing a vibrant yet natural hue to the tea table. As can be seen in the photos, there are some black spots on the teapot, which is in fact iron that has congealed during the hottest stages of firing. Due to the porous nature of the clay, this teapot is well suited for use with dark teas like Ripe Pu’er, Liupao, and black teas. We also recommend trying your hongni teapot with a variety of different teas to see which suits you best personally.
 
The seal on the edge of the lid reads 潘 (pronounced ‘pan’). There is a special history associated with this character in teaware, one that is being subtely referenced here in this wonderful addition to the teapot:
 
During the late Qing Dynasty, renowned individuals would order teapots from Yixing for socializing purposes, among which the most famous was the "Pan teapot", named after the Pan family who lived in south China during the Qing Dynasty. A family of officials involved in the salt trade in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, the Pan family was renowned for their love of tea. So much so, in fact, that they commissioned custom-made sand teapots from Yixing for personal use as well as for gifting and social exchanges. These teapots followed a fixed design, which included the imprint of the family seal on the edge of the lid, while no seal was placed on the bottom as typical. The seal used was the seal script "Pan", and became a hallmark of a family that loved tea.