汉棠石瓢, 173.7ml, Tai Xi Lao Zi Ni 台西矿老紫泥, by Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明。

https://www.realzisha.com/pages/fully-handmade-zisha-art-and-craft-and-tea-pairings

Han Tang Shi Piao 汉棠石瓢
Our Cao Family provides our precious Tai Xi Lao Zi Ni for Stalwart Gu Xiao Ming to craft this understated Han Tang Shi Piao!  Tai Xi Quarry, just like Bao Shan Quarry, 4th Quarry and Da Shui Tan Quarry, is part of our beloved Huang Long Shan.  Here we fired it 1190degC (rather high temperature) to exude and manifest its characteristic colour, darker-toned purplish-brown-red and we see the multiple minute black iron particles.  We thank Gu Xiao Ming for rising to the occasion and being entrusted and tasked by all of us here Craftsmen to craft this mid-volume Han Tang Shi Piao.


The archetypal and beautiful top Classic Han Tang Shi Piao 汉棠石瓢, is created by National Grand Master of The Arts: 徐汉棠 Xu Han Tang.  This is one of his proudest moments, and proudest creation.  It gained its status as a vital Shi Piao shape in our YiXing ZiSha fraternity, firmly established as a core Shi Piao model: having the double-bend Swan-necked spout, its lid being of the brilliant 截盖 Jie Gai built : the "Sectioned" Lid build, demanding for its ask of the Craftsman to paddle-pat the clay slab to the exact curve and then subjecting it to firing and yet yielding a smooth silhouette from lid to body! oh-so satisfying to behold the end result and to pour the hot water over the lid, and watching the water trickle with a one-gentle concave step on the shoulder line before slipping fast down the lower half of the body.  Combining four strong adjectives altogether in its reverence as a core Shi Piao shape: Understated yet Edgy, Oriental and Everlasting.
Here Craftsman Gu beautifully captured the beautiful form that is the  Han Tang Shi Piao 汉堂石瓢 beautifully captured and crafted by Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming!

Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明 thanks you dearest friends for your grandest support to the honest and dedicated Craftsmen left to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art.  Enjoy his diligence, excellent handwork with this Han Tang Shi Piao and let his work accompany you on your tea journey!
As with Craftsmen, many want to join us, but we have always done thorough checks on all of them prior to them joining us:
1) Craftsmanship,
2) Affordability
3) Dedication to the cause, Mission.
There are Craftsmen who can come up with the same level of Craftsmanship of our Craftsmen, but the prices of the former are higher.  There are also Craftsmen who can provide the same prices, but their craftsmanship is simply below par, not something we want to own a LIFETIME.  BEYOND THE LEVEL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND THE PRICE,
We also CHECK BEHIND AND AROUND each of these craftsmen looking to join us.
We check:
~ their reputation,
~ years of dedication,
~ their backstories,
~ their HONESTY TO CUSTOMERS.
Therefore, we our happy team at RealZiSha, will gather the best for all of you!  We are working hard behind the scenes daily in YiXing!
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BRING ONE HOME, USE IT and you will know all about Fully-Handmade ZiSha, the feel of real and quality YiXing ZiSha, the nurturing of Patina, how the true Patina feels and looks like, the Aura exuded from a Fully-Handmade Pot which others simply can't bring forth, and, Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming's skills, savour the pour.  You will know everything then.

Explained, https://www.realzisha.com/blogs/news/actual-zisha-landscape-at-yixing, the Craftsman by selling his hard-worked ZiSha craft at $190-$240, $45-$65 goes to the cost of the craft, inclusive of the fees for the firing for the kiln operator (three times per pot), the packaging boxes, and between $32 to $52 for the clay (Zi Ni Di Cao Qing, Duan Ni and upwards) used per pot.   1) MORE difficult-to-craft shapes and models, 2) clay types we have that are more costly and rare, or 3) clay types that are inherently more difficult to craft with and/or to fire successfully, would cost the Craftsmen more to complete for you and hence they have to avail them to you at above $240.  A hardworking Craftsman takes 3 days (fastest 2.5days) to craft a pot.   
If he works 30 days a month without a single day of rest (no family time), he will craft 10-12 pots.
If he crafts for 25 days (five days of rest a month), his output will be 8-10 pots.
The success rate for Zi Ni (e.g. Di Cao Qing, Lao Zi Ni, Da Shui Tan etc) and Duan Ni (e.g. Jiang Po Ni, Qing Hui Duan, etc) is 70% on average.  Some times the whole batch of 10 may fail.  We have seen our Craftsmen suffer like this very often.
The success rate for Zhu Ni (e.g. Xiao Mei Yao Zhu Ni) pots is 60%, or 70% with most optimism and at the very, very best.  Unfortunately.
All of us at RealZiSha of course, hope for one another, professional colleagues and all, that all the pots will survive firing at the kiln successfully.
[For ZiSha models/designs that are very challenging and more complicated to craft, the time taken to craft will be longer, and the failure rate will be higher as well.  Zi Sha by its virtue, have the highest shrinkage rate of all ceramic clay.  Zi Ni and Duan Ni thus have that 70% success rate, while Zhu Ni has even higher shrinkage rate and thus even lower success rate (the lowest of all ceramic clay.)]
Our Craftsmen are wholeheartedly committed to the cause of Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and their strictness with their craft and dedication earn our respect.  We give a big Thank You all of these Craftsmen, for they are saving what is our common precious tea culture: Tea + Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art and Craft.  Your support is critical to their livelihood and the existence of this craft for all of the tea fraternity.
Thank you Friends!

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Here again, another tremendous labor of love by our trusted and committed The lines and detailing speak of Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming's EXTREME CARE AND TIME taken to craft each part, each pot.  Hold one, hold up one, swing the work around.  Carefully examine his Fully-Handmade work.  Look at it from afar, from near, and it will grow on you, with fine detailing with MUCH THOUGHT on each part, with MUCH TIME spent on every part, section.  Because this is what Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art should be, and HOW FULLY-HANDMADE ZISHA ART is so different from and light years ahead of the ubiquitous jigger-machined pots and half-handmade pots masquerading under the sales tagline of "fully-handmade zisha" pots.  These latter JM/HHM pots are made in what we call 流水线 a.k.a. 'Factory-Line operation' whereby the main pot body after being jigger-machined or coming off from the mould, is passed to the next worker who fits on the spout, and subsequently this second worker will pass the pot on to another worker who will in turn fit on the handle.  Continuing so, the pressed lid is likewise passed to another worker who fit on the lid knob.  EACH WORKER has NO IDEA what the other one is doing, and they are always working on fixed time lines stated by the boss.  For example, the worker being "passed the baton" a pot with the spout just fixed onto the body by his colleague, will only focus on fixing on the handle, with nil to little regard to WHETHER THE HANDLE fixed on will be cohesive with the spout.  Each worker has NO idea of HOW THE FINAL POT WILL LOOK LIKE.  Beyond poor craftsmanship and clay, the result of such processes are ugly pots with poor cohesiveness which experienced Artists, Craftsmen and collectors will tell from a metre away.  Experienced people in us, do not need to pick up a pot to check whether it is fully-handmade or made of zisha, we can tell from a metre away just by looking at the pot.
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The keywords are: Detailing and Cohesiveness.
A GOOD Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work combines great detailing and cohesiveness.
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(Dear Friends, during the photo-taking process, there are five to six separate spotlights shining on the ZiSha pot from above and around.  Looking at the photos, the collar-rim of the lid-body interface thus shows the various spotlights' reflection.  You will therefore see 2 to 3 scattered brighter spots around the collar-rim.  Some friends had asked before, "is the rim-collar having any irregularity in circularity?".  Thus, rest assured.  Do not misconstrue the two to three brighter spots around the lid-body rim collar to mean any irregularity in circularity of the rim-collar.
The rim-collars of all these ZiSha works crafted by our Craftsmen ARE REGULAR in CIRCULARITY, and you can rest assured!  Thank you Friends.)