Three legged teapot

Yixing teapots made in the early 1980s are characterised by good workmanship and low cost. Generally if the teapots came from the Yixing factory, it was not important to know who made the teapots as long as they were purchased for brewing tea. Moreover, majority of the people who bought the teapots in the early days did not have much information regarding the potters. Looking back at the pots one collected over the years, sometimes one may get to own some good teapots made by craftsmasters of today's fame. This is possible as these craftsmasters all have a humble beginning, they all started out as apprentices in the factory and rose through the rank to become craftsmasters of Yixing. The whole process may take over 20 years of hard work for a potter to gain recognition as a renown potter.

There is a three legged teapot made in the early 1980s (the green sticker generally reveals that the teapot was made before Yixing factory adopted the official logo of the square-and-round label) which is of a high standard in terms of workmanship and the zisha clay used. The maker was later found to be a certain Zhou Linghua, an old potter who was active in the 1980s in the factory.

Three legged teapot by Zhou Linghua