On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 23:33:45 GMT, Michael Plant >
wrote:


><http://www.chineseclayart.com/mall/c110/s25729/galleries_store.asp?c=Teapot> Looks like a fun place to visit, with classes and exhibitions.
>
>
>Thanks for posting it. The wood and bamboo types are
>my favorite styles to hate. In fact, I can safely say
>I really enjoy hating them. Not only that, I have worked
>at looking down my nose at people who like them. Then,
>a friend of mine -- mutual friend of ours -- bought one,
>and I actually saw it in the flesh. It was very well
>balanced and constructed, the bamboo bits did not
>compete dispicably with the tea, and I actually liked
>it. So, humble pie, visited yet again.

Speaking, presumably as the "mutual friend", the pot Michael speaks of
can be seen at http://www.pu-erh.net/toolfull.php?Tool=9 . I use it
exclusively for shu-pu and it has been raising quite nicely over the
last two years. It is slip cast and then exquisitely hand detailed,
the bark is layered on after the casting but before the firing and
since the extensive detailing is all hand done no two pots are the
same. The darn things look like real wood, the pictures just don't do
them justice.

The only thing I don't like about them is, especially for puerh, I
prefer a shorter spout that sits higher on the belly of the pot.

The one thing that concerns me about this Clay Art site is the price
of their Dongzhu Chen pots. They are the most expensive I have seen
anywhere. I only paid $50 for mine from M&J, but they don't carry them
anymore, plus I wont do business with M&J anymore for other reasons.
The following place has the exact same pots for less than half of the
price. I don't know the other pots on the Clay Arts site well enough
to know if the prices are high across the board, but the Dongzhu Chen
pots are definitely way out of line.

http://tinyurl.com/yxajqx
http://tinyurl.com/tpt8t
http://tinyurl.com/um24u
http://tinyurl.com/y8nq4q
http://tinyurl.com/y3dnsk


--
Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net