Vintage Chinese Yixing, Gong Fu Mug With Wobble Eye Koi Carp To Lid & Strainer

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Seller: the_nik_nak_place ✉️ (494) 100%, Location: Chester, Cheshire, GB, Ships to: GB & many other countries, Item: 176302403413 Vintage Chinese Yixing, Gong Fu Mug With Wobble Eye Koi Carp To Lid & Strainer.

Vintage Chinese Yixing Straining Mug With Wobble Eye Koi Carp To The Top Lid.

Brown Zisha clay, beautifully made straining mug with a beautiful tea oil patina being created.

The Lid has a Wobbly Glass Eyed Koi Carp Fish Finial in very good detail.

Inside there is a well fitted lift out strainer with holes, this also has a glass eyed fish finial.

Makers mark to the base and to inside the lid.

All in excellent condition.

Size approximately:

• Height 5 & 1/4” (13cms)

• Across 3 & 1/2” (9cms)

I have given it a quick wipe over, but as with all my items I don't over clean or polish. There may be the odd age related wear/mark commensurate with age, anything of note is listed above.

Please see all photos using the zoom function available, as they constitute the item description.

Please note where possible packaging is recycled. If purchasing via expedited shipping despatch time will be one working day maximum.  I only ship internationally via eBay’s GSP service, as the U.K. does not provide a fully tracked service.

Check out my other listings for more antique, vintage and collectable items.

If you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact me.

About Yixing and Gong Fu Cha:

Making tea is essentially the process of breaking down the cell walls of tea leaves to release their flavour. Gong-Fu Cha (Tea With Great Skill) is about doing this in a very controlled way to get the maximum flavour consistently for the maximum number of brews. Too much or too little heat will break down the leaves too quickly or too slowly for the tea you are making and the flavour will be inconsistent. An incorrectly sized teapot will constrict the expansion of the leaves or leave them drowning in too much water.

The key is in matching the right size and shape of straining mug/teapot, the type of clay and firing temperature with the right type of tea and the number of people being served. And since a mug/teapot is something that may be used every day, a mug/teapot should be something that should be comfortable to handle, long lasting and pleasing to the eye.

Serious Gong-Fu Cha enthusiasts spend many hours debating the virtues of their straining mugs and teapots, but there is universal agreement on these four points:

Any tea is best made in unglazed clay teapots and the best teapots are made from “Purple Clay” (Zisha) from the Yixing (Yee-zhing) area of China

Zisha clay has excellent porosity and heat handling properties that significantly improves the taste of tea when compared to tea made in a glass, porcelain or glazed teapots.

Only one Yixing mug/teapot should be used for each type of tea.

High-fired mugs and teapots with a finer, thinner clay are excellent for use with most types of tea and a must for Green, White and Oolong teas. Low-fired mugs/teapots that use a thicker and more porous clay work best for Black Tea (called Red Tea in China) and Pu-Erh Tea.

Certain clays, fired at certain temperatures are used for certain types of teapots. Mugs and Teapots made from more porous clay are low-fired and are made thicker to hold heat longer which is good for Black Teas (called Red Teas in China) and Pu-Erh Teas (called Black Teas in China). High-fired mugs and teapots for teas such as Green, White and Oolongs use a finer, thinner clay and will cool faster, preventing these more delicate teas from “cooking” in the teapot.

Chinese clay straining mugs and teapots do not use glazing. Clay is porous and tea oils are intended to build up inside the mug/teapot and over time, actually smoothes the taste of tea and improves it by adding its own unique character with accumulated oils. Never make different teas in the same mug/teapot unless they are from the same family or class of teas, such as different types of green or oolongs, but even this is not ideal as some teas from the same family have a strong flavour and in time, their taste would transfer to a more delicately flavoured tea.

  • Age: Post-1940
  • Product: Yixing Cup & Strainer
  • Region of Origin: Chinese
  • Primary Material: Clay
  • Sub-Type: Yixing
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Original/Repro: Vintage Original
  • Features: Koi Carp

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