Buying a teapot: checks you can do yourself

What these checks can and cannot do#

Everything below is something you can see, measure or ask. It tells you whether a pot suits your tea and your hands, and it shows how carefully a seller describes what they sell. It does not settle who made a pot, which mine its clay came from or how old it is. No home test does that: colour, ring, weight, a magnet or a rinse are not evidence of origin. When a claim cannot be documented, the honest position is to leave it open, not to replace it with a guess in either direction.

Size: start with your session#

Choose a capacity for the number of cups you serve. As a regional example, Chaozhou specifies 90–150 mL for the brewing vessel, preferably 110 mL, and 25–35 mL for each cup.¹

Ask whether a stated capacity is filled to the brim or to the lid's seat, and measure it yourself with water on a kitchen scale (1 g of water is about 1 mL). Leaves take up room and hold water, so the tea that reaches the cups is less than the brim volume. High-shrinkage clays such as zhuni are mostly used for small pots for that reason, according to the Yingge Ceramics Museum, so very small listed sizes are normal for them.

¹²

Lid, pour and handle#

These are the checks that matter most in use. If you can handle the pot, or ask for a video of this exact pot:

• Lid seat. Set the lid in place and turn it. It should sit level without rocking and without catching. A small, even gap is normal for hand-made pots.
• Pour. Fill with water and pour into a bowl. Watch for a stream that holds together, a spout that does not dribble when you stop, and how long the pot takes to empty. A slow pot keeps steeping the last of the tea.
• Lid while pouring. Tip the pot as you would to empty it. Does the lid stay put with a finger on the knob?
• Handle. With the pot full of hot water, can you hold it without strain or touching the hot body? Pots with an overhead handle (tiliang) and side-handled pots feel very different.
• Inside. Look at the strainer holes behind the spout and how easily a finger or brush reaches the walls. Small mouths are harder to empty of leaves.

A lid that fits and a clean pour say something about workmanship. They say nothing on their own about the maker's name.

How the spout joins the pot

How it was made: ask, then look#

Yixing and Chaozhou pots are made in different ways, and it helps to know which you are looking at. China's heritage record for the Yixing craft describes beating clay slabs into round bodies, joining slabs for square bodies, and combining joining with sculpting for naturalistic forms. The heritage record for Fengxi pots in Chaozhou describes throwing on a wheel by hand, in about sixty steps.

So 'handmade' covers several methods, and moulds are a normal part of some of them. If the method matters to you, ask which stages were done by hand and whether a mould or a wheel was used. Treat the answer as the seller's statement about this pot. Marks inside a pot, a seam or a video of a similar pot are clues, not a full record of how this one was made.

³⁴

If a listing says “molded,” ask what went into the mold. Liu and Li describe a potter shaping a sheet of clay against plaster and lifting it out for finishing. In slip casting, the potter pours liquid clay into the mold and drains the excess once a wall has formed. (2017, pp. 103–104)

Reading the listing: claims stay claims#

A good listing separates what can be seen from what is stated. Sort what you read into three groups:

1. Observable: capacity, dimensions, weight, photos of the inside, spout and base, the shape name.
2. Stated by the seller: clay name, mine or seam, age of the ore, maker, title, age of the pot.
3. Documented: anything backed by a paper you can read, with an issuer and a date.

A clay name is a description of material, not a certificate; see How to read a Yixing clay name. A seal on the base is a mark to record, not proof of who made the pot. A stated mine is the seller's statement unless it is documented. Shops that state their clay source, maker and return policy plainly give you more to work with than shops that only use famous names.

Standards, test reports and certificates#

GB/T 10816-2024 is China’s recommended product standard for zisha ware, effective 1 July 2025. The revision removed the earlier lead and cadmium release requirements. For food contact, consult the applicable ceramic standard and a report for the particular sample.⁵⁶

Chongqing’s 2026 inspection scheme takes six units per batch: four for inspection and two held in reserve. It lists sensory requirements under GB 4806.4-2016, lead migration under GB 31604.34-2016 and cadmium migration under GB 31604.24-2016. The reported outcome applies to the items checked.⁷

If a seller offers a test report or certificate, read it like any document:

• Which item was tested: this pot, this batch, or a different product?
• Who tested it, when, and is the laboratory named?
• Which standard and which test items (for example, metal release) were used, and what were the results?
• Does the report's scope match the claim the seller is making?

A report answers only the question it was written for. A composition report says what is in a body; a migration test says what passes into a liquid under set conditions; neither is a maker's biography or a mine certificate.

⁵⁶⁷

When it arrives#

• Measure the capacity and compare it with the listing.
• Check the lid seat and pour as above.
• Look for cracks, chips and loose fragments, especially at the spout, handle joins and lid rim. Hold the pot up to a light inside if you can.
• Rinse with clean water. A strong or chemical smell that does not go away after rinsing is a question for the seller.
• Keep the listing text, photos and any papers with the pot. If you ever want to know more, that record is what a museum or expert would ask for first.

Short checklist#

• Usable capacity, measured, against the size you brew.
• Lid sits level, stays put while pouring.
• Pour is clean and empties in a time you like.
• Handle comfortable when full and hot.
• Inside reachable for cleaning.
• Forming method stated, and whether moulds or a wheel were used.
• Clay name explained: ore, body or colour; single or blend.
• Maker, mine and age: stated or documented, and by what.
• Any report: item, lab, date, standard, test items, scope.
• Return policy known before buying.