An exquisitely executed teapot from artist Pan Yi, resplendent with the maturity and precision of a master potter’s hand. A rotund center, compressed on top and bottom in a donut-like shape, contrasts with the sharp right angles of the carefully carved food and rim. The curve of the belly picks back up in the lid of the pot, a seemingly uninterrupted line before repeating the shape in the delicate finial up top. This is Pan Yi’s rendition of the Limao Hu, a Ming Dynasty teapot shape inspired by the tranquility and serenity of a lone fisherman on a lake, clothed in a bamboo raincoat and hat.

Made from slabs of semi-porous zhuni clay, the artist works each 2D component in the round with wooden paddles and miniature rolling pins, to exacting proportions. Each of Pan Yi’s teapots is entirely hand made and entirely unique, yet balanced to a near machine-like quality. The results can be felt in the tang and balance of the vessel, honed by the artist at every stage.

The artist sources her clay body from her family’s own safe kept slabs in Yixing, China, the epicenter of the celebrated, eponymous Yixing Pottery. The makeup of zisha remains permeable after firing, and with each steeping, the pot will begin to absorb trace amounts of the tea’s oils and character. This quality has given rise to a long tradition of dedicating one pot to just one tea type, for as the clay seasons over time, each pot takes on a singular terroir of its own.

This pot features a built-in strainer for easy, dripless pouring.

Usage and care: Thoroughly rinse any particles of sand from the interior before use. Dedicate one tea type per pot. Eventually, a tea pot will be seasoned with the particular character of a tea. Hand-wash only without soap or detergent.