Many enthusiasts say that as long as the clay is good, it doesn't matter whether it's fully handmade or not, this is in comparison to semi-handmade (excluding machine-made and wheel-thrown), but it's difficult to judge the quality of the clay. However, compared to craftsmanship, clay is much more complex.

Understanding the basics of craftsmanship can help you judge some aspects of a purple clay Teapot and see if the seller is misleading you, for example, by claiming a machine-made or wheel-thrown pot is semi-handmade; or saying it's fully handmade when it's actually semi-handmade or even machine-made.

If the seller deceives you in terms of craftsmanship, their integrity and character are questionable, so the so-called high-quality clay might not be genuine either.

Poor craftsmanship usually results from inadequate basic skills, and artisans typically won't use very high-quality clay. While not always the case, this is generally true. After all, clay and craftsmanship complement each other. If the craftsmanship is meticulous with well-executed details, the clay quality is usually not bad.

In fully handmade pieces, the inner wall will show the clay texture changing with the curvature of the pot, causing wrinkles and shrinkage. If the potter's bench is made of wood, you can see the texture of the bench left on the inner wall while the clay is being beaten, appearing as intermittent horizontal lines. Additionally, the inner seal will slightly deform, with consistent depth and natural joint marks.

In semi-handmade pots, the inner wall is tighter and flatter without any signs of shrinkage or seam marks. However, there will still be an inner seal, which is stamped onto the inner wall when the body is still in the mold using a soft leather seal, resulting in varying depths, deeper at the edges and shallower in the middle, with artificial joint marks looking rigid.

Machine-made pots have smooth inner walls. The interior of a handmade pot will not be smooth and flat, showing traces of handwork. In contrast, machine-made pots have a rolling head moving inside the body, making the inner wall very smooth. There are no joint marks on the bottom, as the body and bottom are formed separately in handmade pots and need to be joined together, whereas machine-made pots are molded in one piece without any seams. The clay lacks a granular feel and tends to be heavier overall.

▲ Machine-made pot in production

Wheel-thrown pots are shaped by hand on an electric turntable, commonly seen in red zuni clay Teapots. Authentic purple clay cannot be wheel-thrown and requires the addition of glass water, kaolin, and iron oxide for color. A few years ago, it was easier to distinguish these pots due to clear wheel marks on the inside. Nowadays, they cover up these marks quite well by building up the walls high, scraping off the spiral wheel marks. However, upon close examination, faint spiral lines can still be seen.

▲ Wheel-thrown forming process

Sourced from: Purple Clay Teapot Encyclopedia, Teacher Chen