Yixing ware

Also known as zisha (宜興紫砂) ware, they are typically left unglazed and use clays that are very cohesive and can form coils, slabs and most commonly slip casts.

[5] The raw materials for Yixing clay are buried deep underground, sometimes under heavy sedimentary rock formations.

Yixing clays consist of fine iron-containing silt, with mica, kaolinite and varying quantities of quartz and iron ores as its main mineral constituents.

It was not until during the mid-Qing dynasty (18th century) that tea connoisseurs started to use the pot at home and the artisan begin to form them into different shape and sizes.

The unfamiliar material inspired attempts to imitate it, and one Delftware manufacturer announced in 1678 that he was making "red teapots", of which no examples are known to survive.

[citation needed] Some red stoneware by rival Dutch potters from about 1700 does survive, closely copying Yixing pots in style.

[citation needed] In 1690, the Elers brothers originally from Delft, established redware production in Bradwell, Staffordshire, England using slipcasting.