About Us
PorSva | Innovators in Natural Clay Craftsmanship
In the red-earth hills of Jianshui, Yunnan, there’s a clay that’s been shaped by hand and tempered by fire for over a thousand years. Locals call it Jianshui purple pottery (紫陶). We simply call it home.
PorSva is built on that heritage.
“Por” is the ancient root word for porcelain—an honest nod to the alchemy of mud and flame.
“Sva” comes from the Sanskrit svastika, the age-old symbol of good fortune and wholeness.
Put them together and you get PorSva (por-svah): a quiet promise that beauty and blessing can still share the same cup.
Every piece we make starts as one of Jianshui’s five native clays—red, yellow, purple, cyan, and white—dug straight from the mountains. No glaze, just finely sieved clay thrown on a wheel, carved while still wet, filled with colored mud, polished to a satin finish, then fired above 1200 °C in a reduced-oxygen atmosphere. What comes out looks like bronze, feels like jade, and—because the body stays slightly porous—gently “breathes” with every pot of tea you brew. Over months and years it develops its own living patina. That’s the magic everyone talks about.
We still do things the slow way:
- 120+ mesh refined clay, wheel-thrown by hand
- Engraved and inlaid decoration—one knife stroke at a time
- Five-color clay blending that shifts and deepens in the kiln
- Signed and numbered by the maker, because this isn’t factory work
But we design for today. Clean lines, balanced proportions, pieces that feel as natural on a Brooklyn countertop as they do in a Yunnan teahouse.
At PorSva, we’re not trying to make the most purple pottery in the world.
We’re trying to make the pieces you’ll reach for every single day—the teapot that starts your morning, the cup that ends your night, the incense burner that turns an ordinary Tuesday into something a little more peaceful.
When you hold a PorSva piece, you’re holding a handful of Yunnan mountain clay and a whole lot of stubborn craft.
More than that, you’re holding a small, fired-clay reminder that some things still get better when you slow down and do them right.
PorSva
Where clay meets good fortune.
Jianshui purple pottery, made for modern life.