Qie Gua 茄瓜, 136.9ml, Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni 小煤窑朱泥, by our Collaborative Craftsman Wang Hui 王慧, Poem Engraving by Craftsman 一德书 ~ Congratulations to Mr P.K., 1648hrs 13th Apr, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands 🇳🇱.

"长风破浪会有时 直挂云帆济沧海"
不管前面的风浪有多大 只要一只坚持 总有一天可以冲破风浪去到广阔的大海。
The words encourages us to persevere, and to power through, for eventually we will succeed.

Dearest Friends, all our Craftsmen and Artists, brothers and sisters saving our common tea culture, are proud to have Craftsman Wang Hui.  Also a former course mate of our Craftsman Yi Xiao Ran! :-D whom you have seen in her video on our main homepage showing the craft involved in making a Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work. 

Wang Hui, being a long term friend of Craftsman Yi Xiao Ran, and upon her convincing, has joined us as well to preserve Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art!  Yes!  Craftsman Wang Hui here now with other dedicated Craftsmen here to SERVE ALL OF YOU!

Craftsman Wang Hui after her magnificent 秋水 Qiu Shui and 思亭 Si Ting, presents this Qie Gua 茄瓜! 
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Qie Gua 茄瓜。
Very adorable model specially chosen by Craftsman Wang Hui!  AMAZING powerful jet pour and quick emptying.  Delightfully minimalistic ornate, resembling the Qie Gua fruit we consume in China, and she painstakingly worked in the exquisite lid knob!  Seemingly simple, but upon closer inspection, the work of Craftsman Wang Hui is perceivable:
1)  She carefully and consciously fashioned in an L-Shaped ventilation port out from the dome of the lid!  The stalk of the fruit rises up and then joins with the slightly curved Crescent-Shaped Branch.  How lovely!  We also acknowledge the slimness in girth of the stalk when viewed axially.  Thank you Craftsman Wang Hui!
She wishes to show the ergonomics that she intended, and hence the four consequent photos showing how it is ergonomically and conveniently handled with elegance.  Guests will smile and the lid becomes a central talking point.  Be sure to share with your guests the craftsmanship involved, the minimalistic aesthetics manifested which lasts the years of use.  Always, bringing a smile to our faces.  Very satisfying and as she wants it: adorable, on our tea table!




2)  Wang Hui also worked in conscientiously the our favourite, delectable:
纳底, Na Di base.  Na Di base crafting and sculpting involves carefully coaxing the ZiSha clay step by step, and patiently pressing and pressing into shape, the concaved-in structure.   "Na Di" 纳底 , the "pushed in", coaxed in, pressed-in concave base.

3)  BEYOND the savoir-faire showcased above, Wang Hui shows her fine eye of cohesiveness and aesthetics, with the twice-angulated handle, to rhyme in with the curve of the lid, and the curve of the shoulder-line of the body.



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This is Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni, as we all know, with the highest shrinkage together with Zhao Zhuang Zhu Ni compared to all other ZiSha types. Failure rates are high. Unpredictability of the clay edges and joints, due to this high shrinkage is scary to say the least.  With this minimalistic and detailed XiaoMeiYao ZhuNi work, Wang Hui is able to craft at most NINE pieces per month, of which ONLY SIX would be successful.  She appreciates all the kindness for her hard work.
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A delightful and adorable piece of ZiSha Art, and we give kudos to Craftsman Wang Hui and her diligence and hard work all these years.  As with all Art pieces from RealZiSha here presented to all of you dearest Friends, guardians of Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art, they are premium pieces availed at the most astounding lowest prices.  We want you each of you friends to get the best.  You deserve it.
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In the photos of the inner walls: you may see the faint finger pulp imprints on the upper aspect of the inner walls 360degrees all round.  These are the imprints of the fingers of the Craftsman :-), as he/she places the finger(s) within as the he/she pats the paddle from the outside during the shaping of the main holding body.
Craftsman sometimes may wish to wear finger stops or sometimes wishes to work with bare fingers.
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Explained, https://www.realzisha.com/blogs/news/actual-zisha-landscape-at-yixing , the Craftsman by selling his hard-worked ZiSha craft at $190-$240, $45-$65 goes to the cost of the craft, inclusive of the fees for the firing for the kiln operator (three times per pot), the packaging boxes, and between $32 to $52 for the clay (Zi Ni Di Cao Qing, Duan Ni and upwards) used per pot.   Craftsman takes 3 days (fastest 2.5days) to craft a pot.

If he works 30 days a month without a single day of rest (no family time), he will craft 10-12 pots.

If he crafts for 25 days (five days of rest a month), his output will be 8-10 pots.

The success rate for Zi Ni (e.g. Di Cao Qing, Lao Zi Ni, Da Shui Tan etc) and Duan Ni (e.g. Jiang Po Ni, Qing Hui Duan, etc) is 70% on average.  Some times the whole batch of 10 may fail.  We have seen our Craftsmen suffer like this very often.

The success rate for Zhu Ni (e.g. Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni) pots is 60%, or 70% with most optimism and at the very, very best.  Unfortunately.

All of us at RealZiSha of course, hope for one another, professional colleagues and all, that all the pots will survive firing at the kiln successfully.

[For ZiSha models/designs that are very challenging and more complicated to craft, the time taken to craft will be longer, and the failure rate will be higher as well.  Zi Sha by its virtue, have the highest shrinkage rate of all ceramic clay.  Zi Ni and Duan Ni thus have that 70% success rate, while Zhu Ni has even higher shrinkage rate and thus even lower success rate (the lowest of all ceramic clay.)]

Our Craftsmen are wholeheartedly committed to the cause of Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and their strictness with their craft and dedication earn our respect.  We give a big Thank You all of these Craftsmen, for they are saving what is our common precious tea culture: Tea + Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and Craft.  Your support is critical to their livelihood and the existence of this craft for all of the tea fraternity.
Thank you Friends!