Dingshu, a courtyard behind the clay market
Dingshu is the working half of Yixing — a town of kilns, clay yards, and small family studios south of the lake. Michael Zhan visits each quarter on the Jiangsu leg of his sourcing route, usually after the Fujian oolong harvest is locked in and before the spring puerh pressings begin.
This pot came from a two-person workshop a few streets behind the main clay market. The maker — a second-generation potter who asked we not publish her name on the product page — works only in zhuni, and only in the smaller volumes (80 to 140ml) that suit gongfu sessions for one or two drinkers. Her clay is from the Zhao Zhuang seam, weathered outdoors for four years before throwing.
Michael selected this lot of twelve pots from a firing of nineteen. Three cracked in the kiln, two had lid fits he wasn’t satisfied with, and two were held back by the maker for her own customers. The remaining twelve all share the same characteristics — three-point lid, single-hole spout, a pour that finishes cleanly without dribble, and a base that rings bright when tapped.
We price these at what they cost us plus our standard margin. There is no markup for the workshop name because we don’t publish it. What you’re paying for is the clay, the firing, and Michael’s hour spent at the bench checking each pot with water before it went into the case for Shanghai.