Yixing is the category where “who” matters most: same era, same form, a master's mark versus none can mean tenfold. Read a pot in three passes.
1. Marks and makers: check the person first
Marks under the handle, inside the lid and on the base are the first clue. Compare seal characteristics, stroke strength and period style; most fakes cluster around a few famous names, and catalogues filter most of them.
2. Hand: a pot is made to be used
- Read the spout's water cut, lid fit and rim finishing.
- Watch shoulder-to-body transitions — copies flinch there.
- Full-hand versus mould work shows in seam placement and interior; always turn it over inside.
3. Clay: patina tells the truth
Old patina is warm and restrained, brewed in over decades; artificial sheen and uniform tea staining wipe off. Clay texture, sand feel and colour also date a pot — native ore, outer-mountain clay, inlaid sands each have period traits.
Order matters: person, then hand, then clay. Doubt at any pass overturns the rest.
Teapots sit in our Works of Art category — see comparables on the Works of Art page and consign via Consign with base, handle and lid-mark close-ups.