Woodfired Teaware

Yang Wei learned ceramics making in Kunming then spent a couple of years in Jianshui, learning about different pottery techniques. He settled his workshop in Pu'er City in 2017. He uses local clay, made according to his specifications. The clay is quite hard and will have a small influence on the taste of tea, it is softer than Jianshui clay, and harder than Zisha clay. 

He uses different techniques to build his pieces, some are assembled by hand, while others are thrown on a wheel. He likes to include imperfections in his work, wabi-sabi elements embracing asymmetry. 

The pieces are cooked twice, once in an electric kiln at low temperature, and a second time in a wood-fired kiln. The process of firing lasts for about a week. The small kiln is loaded to the brim with teaware and fired for three days. During the firing, the kiln reaches a temperature of 1230 degrees Celsius. A lot of chemical reactions occur: partial reduction, impurities get fixed on the clay and the ash deposits on the surface and forms a thin glaze. This cooking process gives a chaotic result, the artist only controls the placement of the pieces in the kiln, the rest is left for the fire to decide. 

The kiln then needs to cool down for three or four days to avoid crackling in the pieces. 

All these pieces were made by hand, using time-consuming techniques. Yang Wei is an avid tea drinker and understands the needs of the gongfu brewer. As a result, these pieces have a great handling and are easy to use.