The work of Chén Yǒu-Fú 陳友福 has been featured extensively for many years on Taiwan Tea Crafts without a proper introduction. We are finally making amends to this void as we re-kindle our relationship with him at the same time his operations are slowly resurfacing from the downturn that affected all of Taiwan’s craftspeople during the pandemic. Like many handmade pottery studios, Mister Chen operates with assistants and apprentices to help out. The work remains strictly handcrafted as each pot is hand-turned, assembled and finished but will make use of molded handles, lid knobs, filters and spouts to ensure consistency and precision, just like it is done in the famous workshops of Yixing in China. The result is a pot of great beauty and precision with high tolerances in the fit of all its elements. The design of his pots finds inspiration in classic traditional shapes but definitely adapted to tea making practices in Taiwan. An added styling touch is often present in the choice of unique modern shapes in the lid knobs and some discreet detailing like the engraved ring around the lid line on this particular pot. M. Chen is one of the rare potters that accepts the challenge of making sub 100 ml pocket sized teapots like this one. This classic pearl-shaped Yuan Zhu style pot is a good example of his skills at achieving high precision instruments in such a compact size. What we particularly like is his use of Japanese clays that all meet JAS standards of purity and tested to be free of heavy metals and contaminants. This fine grit clay makes dense pots with low porosity which makes them suitable for a wide range of teas, from highly fragrant to more complex and refined ones. As an unglazed pot, we still recommend you dedicate the pot to a chosen style of tea. What we also like is his use of ball-shaped filters on all of his production. As a pocket size pot popular for solo tea explorations, the finer short spout will pour with a nice fine arc directly into your cup. A full volume of 80 ml was timed at 8 seconds to empty itself. Finally, another characteristic of Chen’s work is the lustrous outer finish of his pots featuring a very finely textured surface that reflects light beautifully. Each pot is unique featuring a hand engraved signature on the bottom and stamp on the handle. What you see in the pictures is what you get. Handmade in Taiwan.