Artist: 李雪 Li Xue Clay: Ben Shan Hong Ni Capacity: 110ml Pour Time: 6s Made in Dingshan, Yixing Unique Lot Numbers: 5022-1, 5022-2
A fully handmade piece from Craftsman Li Xue, in a traditionally processed rustic Hong Ni from Huanglong Shan. This clay has not been acid-washed to remove iron, so retains 100% of its organic character, giving it a distinctive and wonderfully tactile granularity and natural porosity.
This is one of our most admired 孟臣 Meng Chen style variations of the classic shuiping shape, with a slightly flattened silhouette and ideal proportions, which gives it elegant poise on the tea table. Especially with such simple designs, achieving perfect proportion and curve is extremely important to make a piece stand out -- in this case it is executed fabulously by Li Xue. The interior boasts a "pushed-in" style filter (内推孔), which although much more difficult to execute, ensures a smooth and even pour.
Artist Li Xue is a close friend of the House of Shi (Grandmaster Shi Yin Zhi, daughter Shi Wen Jie and son-in-law Zhong Ze Liang) and her work was recommended to us directly from them. As this piece shows, this young artist is already producing pieces well worthy of collection and appreciation, and we are glad to be able to support her outstanding work by offering this.
ABOUT THE CLAY
This Ben Shan Hongni clay was selected for its excellent granular nature and performance in extracting the best brews of tea. Connoisseurs will appreciate the beautiful texture of its skin and depth of color across its surface. The advantage of a high quality hongni is that it seasons particularly well, even more obviously so than a comparable Zhuni (which is already shiny and smooth from the start) and a beautiful patina is expected to develop with correct use and care.
