Yixing (Buccaro)
The center of production for Yixing zisha pottery is Dingshuzhen in Yixing County, in the southern part of Jiangsu Province. High quality Yixing clay comes from along the banks of Lake Tai near Nanjing. Refined and fired to a high temperature it produces a slightly absorbent pottery highly regarded by tea lovers.
This has been the center of Chinese teapot production since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the Ming period several generations of famous zisha potters worked there. In the Qing period literati collaborated with zisha potters to produce large numbers of finely made teapots and decorative items appealing particularly to the literati taste.
A good Yixing teapot should pour evenly from the pot, have a porcelanious ring to it when struck, a very snug fitting lid which if the lid has a hole will stop pouring when you put your finger over it. Since the clay will absorb some of the flavor it is important to drink only one kind of tea out of it. If it has any age to it, it should have a distinct residue of old tea inside.
A zisha ware with a Jun-type glaze, called Yijun ware, rivals the flambé Shiwan ware from Guangdong.
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