Zisha Pottery
A story on Chinese yixing teapot–Let’s drink to that
Sales of collectable teapots are helping to fund community development.
As a teenage boarder, Charlotte di Vita made necklaces to sell to her fashion-starved classmates, donating the prof-its to the Guide Dogs Association. By her early 20s she was selling wooden pendants carved in Ghana to London’s hip crowds and using the profit to fund projects in the developing world.
Di Vita is the glamorous Anglo-Italian founder of Trade plus Aid. Since launching the charitable fund-raising or-ganisation in 1992, she has been on the lookout for the perfect little something that could provide fairly paid employ-ment to developing-world artisans producing the aforementioned “perfect little something”, yet be so desirable to West-erners that they would spend repeatedly.
With her collection of miniature enamelled teapots, di Vita is reasonably sure she has hit upon that perfect some-thing. The miniature teapots, made in an isolated corner of China, were introduced to the buoyant British collectables market in 1998. Sales that year reached $2.7 million, and by the end of last year more than $3 million had been returned to the Chinese enamellists and almost $300,000 had been raised to initiate development projects in Africa.
All this without a background in manufacturing, marketing, art or charity. “I was 24 when I began Trade plus Aid so I hadn’t really had time to develop a background,” di Vita says. For Trade plus Aid to fund the development projects di Vita dreamed of, the crafts or artworks had to have broad appeal. And with enamelled miniature teapots she has found it, with minimum orders set at 5000 these days.
“The only way to make a difference is to appeal to Mrs Bloggs and to Lord and Lady Blah Blah,” di Vita says. The teapots, in 120 different designs, stand eight to 12 centimetres tall and are handmade. Part of their appeal in Britain, di Vita says, is that they revive an almost lost 18th-century art form. Each teapot is handpainted with images following a certain theme, such as Beatrix Potter, or works by van Gogh, Cezanne or Klimt and, with collectors being collectors, there is much repeat business.
She suggests that collectors see the miniature teapots as particularly good value when enamel trinket boxes by British companies such as Halcyon Days and Crummles can cost 10 times as much as the £25 (about $70) teapots. Di Vita says many trinket boxes now use transfers rather than handpainting and if the teapots were made in the UK, they would cost hundreds of pounds. “Artists in Britian who can hand-paint would want £600 to £700 a week. Each teapot takes four days to complete, so you can see how expensive they would be.”
Following the success of the teapots, di Vita plans to add a range of miniature enamel tea cups and hopes to work with Paul McCartney’s wife, Heather Mills, to help children injured by landmines. “We’re talking with the holder of the Yellow Submarine licence about a range because that’s very hot in Britain at the moment.”
And di Vita does not care if people buy her teapots without a thought for struggling communities in Africa and Asia. “They are not buying because it’s a good cause, they are buying because they like them, but once they read the information about Trade plus Aid we get masses of e-mails from customers asking ‘how can we help?’ And it’s not an expensive product; they might otherwise have bought a Tiffany key ring for a friend but now they’ll buy one of our teapots.”
About the Author
Offers handmade yixing teapots,also called zisha teapot, is known as the best in Chinese teapots or China teapots, and accessories from Yixing, China.
Tea and Pottery from Yixing
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A Beautiful Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Dragon Teapot $79.99 |
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Charming old Chinese Purple Clay zisha YIXING Pottery Teapot Hand Carved $19.99 |
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Charming old Chinese Purple Clay zisha YIXING Pottery Teapot Hand Carved $19.99 |
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Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea pot,Purple Clay,Producer Signature $56.00 |
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Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Flower Statue,Producer Signature $56.00 |
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Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Purple Clay,Producer Signature $56.00 |
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Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea pot,Purple Clay,Producer Signature $56.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $156.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $154.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $156.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $156.00 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Unique Shape #8 $9.99 |
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5000friend-Rare Yixing Zisha Pottery Tea Cup,1960′ $9.90 |
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5000friend-Classical Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot,1980′ $49.90 |
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5000friend-Fine Yixing ZiSha Pottery Old Peach Teapot $55.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $156.00 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Exquisite Carving #2 $9.99 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Unique Shape #23 $9.99 |
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5000friend-Vintage Yixing Zisha Pottery Bamboo Teapot $99.00 |
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High-Grade Chinese Yixing Zisha Pottery Teapot/Tea Pot,Producer Signature $156.00 |
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5000friend-Exquisite Yixing ZiSha Pottery Vintage Teapot $49.90 |
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5000friend-Famous Yixing Zisha Pottery Vintage Teapot $49.90 |
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5000friend-Interesting Yixing ZiSha Pottery Old Guava Teapot $99.00 |
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5000friend-So Wonderful Yixing Zisha Pottery Old Teapot $199.00 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Unique Shape #19 $9.99 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Unique Shape #17 $9.99 |
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Wonderful rare old Purple Clay YIXING zisha Chinese Pottery Teapot Tea Pot $0.95 |
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Yixing Pottery Teapot Zisha Chinese Unique Shape #17 $9.99 |
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Auspicious Artistic YiXing ZiSha Pottery “Dragon”Teapot $145.00 |
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Intriguing Artistic YiXing ZiSha Pottery “Dragon”Teapot $118.00 |
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Intriguing Artistic YiXing ZiSha Pottery “Drum” Teapot $68.00 |
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Intriguing Artistic YiXing ZiSha Pottery”Buddha” Teapot $68.00 |
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Rare Yixing ZiSha Small 320cc Pottery Pumpkin Teapot $299.00 |
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18/19Th Big Chinese YiXing ZiSha Rectangle Pottery Teapot $92.33 |
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Super Graceful Old YiXing ZiSha Pottery”Pumpkin” Teapot $221.00 |
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Chinese Pottery / Chinese Ceramic / Chinese Yixing Zisha Teapot $109.99 Chinese Yixing Zisha Teapot: Yixing pottery refers to the unique traditional stoneware made in Yixing, China. They are made from the reddish clay (zisha) found in Yixing area, usually unglazed to display the beauty of the shiny color of the clay. Most of them are teawares (called zisha teapots). Yixing zisha ware won numerous prizes from International trade exhibitions all over the world. Zisha c… |
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Chinese Crafts / Chinese Teapots / Chinese Yixing Zisha Teapot – Chinese Calligraphy / Painting Chinese YiXing Zisha Teapot – Chinese Calligraphy / Painting: This Chinese YiXing ZiSha teapot is decorated with traditional Chinese calligraphy on one side and painting on the other side. Yixing pottery refers to the unique traditional stoneware made in Yixing, China. They are made from the reddish clay (zisha) found in Yixing area, usually unglazed to display the beauty of the shiny color of th… |
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Chinese Pottery / Chinese Ceramic / Traditional Chinese Teapots: Chinese Yixing Zisha Teapot Chinese YiXing Zisha Teapot: Yixing pottery refers to the unique traditional stoneware made in Yixing, China. They are made from the reddish clay (zisha) found in Yixing area, usually unglazed to display the beauty of the shiny color of the clay. Most of them are teawares (called zisha teapots). Yixing zisha ware won numerous prizes from International trade exhibitions all over the world. Zisha c… |
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Themes and Variation: The Zisha Pottery of Chen Mingyuan $60.00 … |
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[Encycolpedia of Chinese Zisha Pottery] – Zhongguo zisha cidian $168.82 … |
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Innovations in Contemporary Yixing Pottery = Zisha chun hua dangdai Yixing taoyi. … |