Sourced from the Dingshu furnace
I first visited the Dingshu workshops in spring 2025, wandering narrow alleyways where the air smelled of wet clay and pine smoke. The zhuni clay here is a legend — a dense, iron-rich zisha that’s been used in Yixing for centuries. This xishi pot was thrown by a third-generation potter whose family has worked the same clay seam since the Ming dynasty.
I watched him press the soft, orange-hued clay into a slab, then shape it on a wheel that his grandfather built. The xishi shape is named after the ancient beauty Xi Shi — round, supple, feminine. At 80ml, it’s a single-session marvel. The lid fits with a whisper-soft suction, a sign of master craftsmanship.
After shaping, the pot dried in the sun for two weeks before entering the dragon kiln. The reduction firing brings out the zhuni’s characteristic orange-red patina, which will deepen with use. Each pot bears a tiny chop on the base — the maker’s mark — and a faint scent of smoke that vanishes after the first rinse.
I carried a dozen of these back to our warehouse, wrapped in rice paper. This one is the pick of the lot: the spout pours a clean, arching stream without a single drip, and the handle sits balanced in the hand. I’ve been using mine daily with floral oolongs; the tea comes out rounder, sweeter, with none of the metallic edge you sometimes get from porcelain. A pot that feels like it’s already a friend.