Green tea is best in teapots from China: 'Yixing teapots', as found on a 19th century shipwreck

Chinese green tea is best enjoyed in antique Yixing teapots.

The Yixing teapots presented below was recovered from

the Desaru (AD. c. 1830) shipwreck.

There are two distinct differences between ordinary pottery and Yixing teapots. The first is the type of clay used. The second: most wares are made by hand and not on a potters wheel. Yixing 'purple' clay is if fact a mixture of the purple soil, the green soil (from the mountains of Yixing) and the red soil. The purple clay arrives from around Lake Tai and the mixture of the three different types of minerals is still a safely guarded secret.

Green tea is best enjoyed in antique Yixing teapots made from the precious 'old' purple clay. Three types of Yixing teapots were recovered from the 19th century shipwreck: 'Desaru', each of them featuring a unique potters mark or studio name. Assembled from individual pieces of hand rolled clay, each teapot reflect the skill of its master. Tea lovers all over the world recently re-vitalized the tradition of drinking green tea -in Yixing teapots. The characteristics of the Yixing clay is said to be most suitable due to its porous nature, allowing it to seasoning itself with every brew.

Traditional Yixing teapot clay particles usually range from 0.2 to 0.3 mm in size. The porous nature of this clay is particularly suitable for teapots as the pot absorbs the flavor, smell, and color of the tea that is brewed in it. The repeated use of such teapot makes it better every time. Many old Chinese people still carry with them their favorite teapot whenever they travel.

10.5cm high Yixing teapot from the Desaru (1830) shipwreck

9.5cm high Yixing teapot from

the Desaru (1830) shipwreck

6.5cm high Yixing teapot from

the Desaru (1830) shipwreck

All Yixing teapots recovered from the Desaru shipwreck, tentatively dated to 1830, are marked in the base with a potters marks. This mark will sometimes show the name of the factory and include a Chinese poem, most frequently associated with mountains, spring water and the like. The marks shown below represents all marks and stamps found on the Desaru shipwreck site.

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To view Yixing Teapots for Sale, go to: Artifacts for sale

Green tea and teapots made in Yixing; the Yixing teapots are the most suitable for enjoying Chinese green tea. Made by hand, these tea pots was made for the famous green tea growing in the higher ranges of mountains in China. Green tea is nowadays also considered healthy by most researchers. Green tea, antique Chinese teapots and teapots made from purple clay are the most famous of all teapots.

Interesting web pages:

Click on above images to view antique shipwreck ceramics

Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC. Delaware. USA.

as agents for Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia. Email to us

Porcelain Celadon WanliPorcelain Yixing Underglaze Clearance Giftwares Jars & bottles Porcelain shards Miscellaneous

A site loaded with information about ancient shipwreck ceramics including; antique porcelain, old time pottery & Chinese porcelain.

An index page for old time pottery, Asian pottery and 17th century Ming porcelain. From here there is a wide selection of ceramics available.

Interested to try your skills in determine what is 'fake' and what is not? If so, try your luck on this site and you will find that the 'fakers' are getting better for every day!

This site must be the cheapest place on the net where you can buy guaranteed antiques, with a Certificate of Authenticity, at almost nothing!

Here you will see that marine growth on porcelain does not necessarily confirm its centuries long submersion. In Indonesia, the 'fakers' often glue it on a newly made pieces!

Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain from the Wanli shipwreck is available on this site. It includes typical 17th century kraak ware and other Chinese porcelain pieces.

Another site with access to our video and photo albums showing how we recover Chinese porcelain and other Asian ceramics from shipwrecks in the South China Sea.

On this site you will find the most affordable 19th century Chinese porcelain pieces available on the net. And, every piece is delivered with a Certificate of Authenticity

This site is loaded with pictures and videos from our work with historical shipwrecks in the South China Sea. There are plenty of pottery surfacing after every dive.

Underglaze black (iron oxide) painted pottery was made in the 14th to the 16th century in Sukhothai, Thailand. This webpage include a video from the actual site where our shipwreck pieces was made 600 years ago!

Another index page where you can read about our shipwrecks, its ceramic cargoes and find directions where you can purchase these artefacts.

We have supplied many international museums with our shipwreck ceramics. Due to good dating, these pieces are often used as reference material.

This site is the index page for the Wanli shipwreck project. It includes a brief archaeolocal report, a section on ancient porcelain production at Jingdezhen and a full catalogue of all the porcelain found on the wreck site.

On this site you can buy genuinely old shipwreck celadon wares from the 15-16th century. These pieces was made at the Sisatchanalai kilns 450-600 years ago.

Read an interesting story about the possible (or likely) circumstances for the loss of the Wanli ship and the fate of its crew.

Another site with more information about the Wanli shipwreck and its kraak ware and other Chinese porcelain pieces found on the site.

Short introduction and a review to the catalogue: "The Wanli Shipwreck and its Ceramic Cargo" This catalogue can be ordered from: http://www.mingwrecks.com/publications.html

Look at the cheapest collectibles available on the net. USD. 7.50 for an old porcelain spoon and USD. 11.00 for an 540 year old celadon jarlet!

Read about: Jingdezhen, "the porcelain centre of the world" where the imperial ceramic kilns was located.

Affordable antique porcelain and pottery. These are the cheapest available on the net.

Early Chinese porcelain and pottery from the South China Sea shipwrecks

OTHER INTERESTING WEBPAGES RELATED TO ANTIQUE PORCELAIN, OLD TIME POTTERY, CHINESE PORCELAIN AND OTHER MING POTTERY. ALL OF IT WITH IMPECCABLE PROVENANCE!

Nanhai Marine Archeology LLC Delaware, USA

as agents for Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd.

25 Jalan Wawasan Jaya. 26 820 Kuala Rompin. Malaysia

Phone: + 609 413 1002 Fax: + 60 9 413 2996 email to us

THE ONLY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE SURE TO BUY GENUINE ANTIQUES

Nanhai Marine Archaeology Sdn. Bhd. was incorporated on the recommendation of the Malaysian authorities. This was done in order to formalize and to expand on the company’s researcher’s extensive knowledge of Asia’s ceramic developments and maritime trade.

The company’s researchers have been engaged in the search for historical shipwrecks for more than two decades and another decade researching maritime trade. Most of this work is concentrated to the South China Sea, a virtual highway for ancient shipping linking China to India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia in an extensive maritime trade system. This ancient trade started sometime around the 4th century and lasted well into the 19th century.

Following a successful shipwreck discovery, the company obtain a government permit to excavate the wreckage, and then carry out detailed marine archaeological procedures in recovering the artifacts, mapping the ship's remains and securing other data for future research. After each concluded project and following conservation of recovered artifacts, we search for and pinpoint ruined kiln sites and compare its wasters with the recovered ceramics until we are satisfied we located the place in which the shipwreck pottery was made centuries earlier.

As such we have precisely located a kiln sites in Sisatchanalai, northern Thailand in which our Royal Nanhai and the Nanyang shipwreck celadon ware was made around AD. 1380-1460. (See videos on: http://www.china-pottery.com/photopage.html ) Other kilns was located in Sukhothai where production wasters matched the fish and flower plates found on the Turiang and the Longquan shipwreck. These unique underglaze decorated wares was made at those exact kilns 600 years earlier! Our latest shipwreck cargo; The Wanli Shipwreck, of Chinese blue and white porcelain, was likewise pinpointed to the Guangyinge kiln site in Jingdezhen, China. (See video on: http://www.china-pottery.com/photopage.html )

Our arrangement with the Malaysian authorities is such that we finance all operations and train young Malaysian nationals (on our initiative) in maritime archaeology and related research. After giving all unique and single artifacts and thirty percent of all recovered items to the National Museum (and assisting with exhibitions of artifacts from each project) we are allowed to sell our portion of the recovery to finance future projects. The findings from ongoing research and the compilation of reports, books and catalogues are available on these pages as well as on a separate Internet site: http://www.maritimeasia.ws

Due to the unquestionable authenticity and precisely dated shipwreck pottery, many International Museums now display our shipwreck pieces as reference material.

The artifacts sold on this website are therefore legally and properly excavated and can be supplied with an export permit from the Department of Museum in Malaysia should this be required. This unique working arrangement makes us one of the few Internet sellers that sell from own excavation and issues a meaningful Certificate of Authenticity for every (numbered) piece sold.

So, if you are interested to purchase some of our Antique porcelain, old time pottery or other shipwreck artifacts from the Song dynasty, Ming porcelain or Chinese blue and white porcelain or the famous Yixing teapots, you can rest assured that every piece is excavated through proper archaeology by our own staff. We do not sell anything that is not excavated by ourselves or properly recorded and researched before offered for sale so every piece comes with the “Best possible provenance”

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO EMAIL OUR PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER; Sten Sjostrand SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR POSSIBLE PURCHASE