Xiao Ying 笑樱, 281.5ml, Huang Jiang Po Ni 黄降坡泥, by our Collaborative Craftsman Chen Fa Chu 陈法初。
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This is very delectable and good Huang Jiang Po Ni used here, with a great variation of grainy particles, which our Cao Family approved for Chen Fa Chu to use. When you hold it in person and examine carefully, especially the chamfered edges of the lid collar, you will be delighted.
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Xiao Ying 笑樱 originates from the Ming Dynasty, and in the 1970s was modified by legendary Gu Jing Zhou, the shape of which lasted till today as the definitive most beautiful Xiao Ying. It served as a ZiSha gift for the government to provide for foreign dignitaries. The Body's top and bottom sections both sport the amazing convex and concave curves ending in the bottom plate and the top opening plate for the lid to sit on: these two sections tests the Craftsman in his or her patting skills. The spout's base has a wide lumen allowing a strong and voluminous pull, and then pushes out through the sharper opening. The spout is a great beauty by itself, which demands a lot of time and skill to perfect, sometimes taking as much as a day to just get it right to be fitted onto the body! The adjoining part to the body must also be dligently sculpted so that the whole ZiSha pot looks absolutely cohesive and balanced: spout, body, lid and handle. Indeed a very demanding Austere ZiSha GREAT!!! The handle's design renders it delightful ergonomics during use. You have to handle it to understand how the whole pot sits on your lifting and pouring hand. Enjoy a superbly made Xiao Ying by devoted Chen Fa Chu, crafted in delectable Huang Jiang Po Ni. Have fun collecting all the CLASSICS that you love from him, and of course he welcomes you to support all the other fellow brothers and sisters Craftsmen here as well!
Xiao Ying, is an extremely treasured ZiSha model mastered by Craftsman Chen Fa Chu. It is an extremely challenging Austere model for all Craftsmen and Artists alike, to craft. Admire, appreciate and savour Xiao Ying in its aesthetic and ergonomic magnificence on your tea table.
Xiao Ying's significant dome of air on top, after the hot water is steeped in, and the lid closed, will allow for aeration of your tea. Pour is fun! It is relatively tall, and one reaches and catches easily onto the handle. The huge dome of air on top also allows the first millisecond of pour to be swift, as air is easily expandable (and even in case the lid knob's tiny hole is being blocked by water tensioned water film that was introduced during your earlier pouring of hot water over the whole pot and closing the lid).
Here at a handy, newly minted, ~200ml volume.
We all appreciate your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
The Stalwart, dedicated to the cause, Craftsman Chen Fa Chu, again wishes to thank you for embracing his work! Enjoy his superb, classic handwork, and let his Art piece accompany you on your tea journey! Thank you Friends!
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BRING ONE HOME, USE IT and you will know all about Fully-Handmade ZiSha, the feel of real and quality YiXing ZiSha, the nurturing of Patina, how the true Patina feels and looks like, the Aura exuded from a Fully-Handmade Pot which others simply can't bring forth, and, Craftsman Chen Fa Chu's skills, savour the pour. You will know everything then.
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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. Out of 12 pots he makes a month of 30days, 9 pots will survive the kiln firing successfully. Out of 9 pots, a Craftsman on average sells 7 pots per month. For ZiSha models/designs that are very challenging and more complicated to craft, time taken will be longer, and the failure rate will be higher as well. Zhu Ni pots have higher failure rates than Zi Ni and Duan Ni pots too. Our Craftsmen are crazily 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.
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Again, another tremendous labor of love by our trusted and committed collaborative Craftsman Chen Fa Chu. It is a team effort and we thank you dearest Friends for your grandest support to the honest and the dedicated Craftsladies and Craftsmen here left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.
The lines and detailing speak of Craftsman Chen Fa Chu's EXTREME CARE AND TIME taken to craft each part, each pot. Hold one, hold up one, swing the work around. Carefully examine his Fully-Handmade work. Look at it from afar, from near, and it will grow on you, with fine detailing with MUCH THOUGHT on each part, with MUCH TIME spent on every part, section. Because this is what Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art should be, and HOW FULLY-HANDMADE ZISHA ART is so different from and light years ahead of the ubiquitous jigger-machined pots and half-handmade pots masquerading under the sales tagline of "fully-handmade zisha" pots. These latter JM/HHM pots are made in what we call 流水线 a.k.a. 'Factory-Line operation' whereby the main pot body after being jigger-machined or coming off from the mould, is passed to the next worker who fits on the spout, and subsequently this second worker will pass the pot on to another worker who will in turn fit on the handle. Continuing so, the pressed lid is likewise passed to another worker who fit on the lid knob. EACH WORKER has NO IDEA what the other one is doing, and they are always working on fixed time lines stated by the boss. For example, the worker being "passed the baton" a pot with the spout just fixed onto the body by his colleague, will only focus on fixing on the handle, with nil to little regard to WHETHER THE HANDLE fixed on will be cohesive with the spout. Each worker has NO idea of HOW THE FINAL POT WILL LOOK LIKE. Beyond poor craftsmanship and clay, the result of such processes are ugly pots with poor cohesiveness which experienced Artists, Craftsmen and collectors will tell from a metre away. Experienced people in us, do not need to pick up a pot to check whether it is fully-handmade or made of zisha, we can tell from a metre away just by looking at the pot.
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The keywords are: Detailing and Cohesiveness.
A GOOD Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work combines great detailing and cohesiveness.
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(Dear Friends, during the photo-taking process, five to six separate spotlights above and around, are used. Looking at the photos, the collar-rim of the lid-body interface thus shows the various spotlights' reflection. You will therefore see 2 to 3 scattered brighter spots around the collar-rim. Some friends had asked before, "is the rim-collar having any irregularity in circularity?". Thus, rest assured. Do not misconstrue the two to three brighter spots around the lid-body rim collar to mean any irregularity in circularity of the rim-collar.
Yes, the rim-collars of all these ZiSha works crafted by our Craftsmen ARE REGULAR in CIRCULARITY :-D, and you can rest assured. Thank you Friends.
