Scholars' participation in Yixing Wares

The beginning of the 19th century saw the revival of Yixing pottery. It was brought about by one man whose name was Chen Hongshou or Chen Mansheng (陈曼生) . Chen was born in 1768 during the reign of Qianlong emperor of the Qing dynasty. He was a scholar, a man of great culture. He studied classics, practiced calligraphy and painting and achieved high proficiency in both. He also practised seal carving and was later admitted as one of the eight members of the exclusive society of seal carvers of Yixing. He was appointed magistrate of Yixing, a post which he held for only three years before he was transferred to Haifang where he died in 1822.

Soon after he took office at Yixing, Mansheng set about the task of reviving the interest in the flagging pottery industry. He is said to have come up with eighteen new designs (曼生十八式) of teapots and went on to engage a number of top ranking potters to make them for him. Among those he recruited were Yang Pengnian, his younger brother Ponian and sister Fengnian, Shao Erquan, Shen Xi and Wu Yueting. Then he asked a group of literati friends to assist him in decorating the pots with painting and calligraphy which were then carved into the body of the teapots. They were great scholars in their right and only came out to assist him solely out of their interest. These men had distinguished themselves in either painting, calligraphy or seal carving. Many of their surviving works are still much sought after by collectors up to the present day.

At Chen Mansheng's instigation, the making of a teapot requires the work of three persons. First, the potter makes a pot, and when it is leather hard, another person decorates it with either painting or calligraphy. Then yet another person is asked to carve it out before the teapot is finally sent for firing. Thus, very often a finished pot has four seals, that of a potter, a painter, a carver and the person who commissioned it. The collaboration between scholars and potters was at its height during the first half of the 19th century. Their concerted efforts help to produce some of the most charming piece of art out of a simple teapot. The scheme was o successful that within a short period of three years of Chen's term in Yixing, Yixing's pottery had not only regained but even surpassed its former prosperity. It has been recorded that the calligraphy and painting on the teapots were of such superior quality that people were willing to pay three times the price for a well decorated teapot than a plain one.


A popular Mansheng pot

 Perhaps never in the history of Chinese ceramics, has any quarter exerted more influence on the final product than the class of literati on the Yixing teapots. Some of the pieces that are housed in various museums of the world are testimonies of their artistic achievements and everlasting tribute to the man who first initiated it - Chen Mansheng.

Some of Mansheng teapots made by recent potters are shown here.


Overhead handle pot


  陈曼生创作的十八种款式紫砂壶。传世“曼生壶”，无论是诗，是文，或是金石、砖瓦文字，都是写刻在壶的腹部或肩部，而且满肩、满腹，占据空间较大，非常显眼，再加上署款“曼生”、“曼生铭”、“阿曼陀室”，或“曼生为七芗题”等等，都是刻在壶身最为引人注目的位置，格外突出。尤其值得特别指出的是陈曼生一反宜兴紫砂工艺的传统作法，竟将壶底中央钤盖陶人印记的部位盖上自己的大印“阿曼陀室”，而把制陶人的印章移在壶盖里或壶把下腹部。


Mansheng Pot by Yang Pengnian

 

Mansheng Pot by Yangpengnian

Tradition of Teapot Making

In the early 2000s, the process of teapot making was classified as a cultural heritage of the people of China. The potters of Yixing have inherited this process many centuries ago and there have not been any major changes in the art of teapot making. The craftsmen over the years have been able to pass on these skills to their disciples. Generally the intention is to ensure the tradition of teapot making can be handed down from generation to generation.

 

 Old potters at work in the Yixing factory

You may admire the aesthetic beauty of a teapot, do you know the complicated processes of making it? Before the potters can start making the teapot, they have to prepare the clay. The zisha raw materials (rocks) have to be ground to powder. This is mixed with water to produce clay which is well beaten to expel the air form the clay. The clay in rectangular shape is then wrapped in plastic sheet and kept for two months to season it. Then only the potters can start moulding the clay into teapots.

Zisha clay is suited to fine modelling treatment as it is highly plastic, strong in its biscuit form, and has a low degree of contraction during the drying and firing (sintering) process.

The basic forms of zisha wares are produced by two methods, da shentong (beating the round body) and xian shentong (joining parts together by gluing). Round vessels are produced by the da shentong method. A piece of clay is beaten to uniform thickness, cut to a strip and formed into a cylinder, which is then beaten into a desired shape with a spatula. Parts including the neck, legs, handle and sprout are then added, as well as the cover which is carved out of the round form of clay.The whole process to produce the body is rather complicated. That is the reason why teapots which are hand made command a higher price. The teapots made by craftsmasters and grand masters of the trade are generally beyond the reach of ordinary folks. There are also teapots made by machines which are really mass-produced teapots that lack quality.

Zisha clay

Da shentong method for round teapot

Square teapots are formed by the xian shentong method, by which flat sheets of clay are cut to the desired dimensions and glued together using wet clay. The other parts like sprout, cover, knob and handle are again glued to the body using wet clay. Good quality square teapots require professional skills from the potters as they are more difficult to make.

Xian shentong method for square teapot

Next the surface of the vessel is smoothened with a scraper made of buffalo horn. This treatment gives a smooth, refined texture on the surface of the vessel and clear, crispy outlines to the form. It is the final finish on the clay body and a demonstration of the potter's skill.

Smoothening the surface with a scraper

The smoothening process with a scraper accounts for the heat retaining quality of the vessel. In the process, aggregates near the surface are pressed towards the interior, producing a dense and compact exterior surface which after firing becomes impervious. However, in the firing process, aggregates contract, and some of them are burnt away, and producing pores around and within themselves. This pore structure of the interior walls is an asset to the purple clay vessel. This minute porosities are highly absorbent, enabling the vessel to retain the flavor and temperature of tea for a longer period of time then porcelain wares.

Purple clay has a relatively low rate of contraction during drying and firing. This accounts for the tight fit of the cover and the mouth rim of the teapot. This feature minimises the channels which air-borne germs can enter the teapot, and effectively delays the souring of the tea soup.

An interesting square teapot

Water chestnuts

The water chestnut is actually not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, underwater in the mud. Water chestnuts have a crisp white flesh and can be eaten raw, slightly boiled, or grilled, and are often pickled or tinned. They are a popular ingredient in Chinese dishes.  They are unusual among vegetables for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned, because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds. The corms are rich in carbohydrates (about 90 percent by dry weight), especially starch (about 60 percent by dry weight), and are also a good source of dietary fibre, potassium, copper, and manganese.

Water chestnuts

Raw water chestnuts are slightly sweet and very crunchy. Boiled water chestnuts have a firm and slightly crunchy texture, with a flavor that is very mild and slightly nutty, so it can be easily overpowered by any seasonings or sauces with which the water chestnut is served or cooked. Water chestnuts are often combined with bamboo shoots, coriander, ginger, sesame oil, and snow peas. They are often used in pasta or rice dishes.

Teapots having a water chestnut design is not uncommon in Yixing. The renown female potter of Yixing by the name of Ziang Rong 蒋蓉 had created a teapot modelled on a chestnut and received recognition for her creativity and skills in teapot making. Many other potters have since imitated that design for years.
 

Chestnut teapot made by Zhang Jiangzhong 张建中

Water chestnut

蒋蓉外甥及徒弟张建中老师，一把非常高档的壶品名：荸荠壶 ：张建中*蒋蓉外甥及徒弟 底款：张建中制

The purple mangosteen

The purple mangosteen is a tropical evergreen tree believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and Indonesia. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia, and it also grows in tropical South American countries such as Colombia and in India, where the tree has been introduced. The tree grows from 6 to 25 m (20–82 ft) tall. The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, and somewhat fibrous, with an inedible, deep reddish-purple coloured rind (exocarp) when ripe. In each fruit, the fragrant edible flesh that surrounds each seed is botanically endocarp, i.e., the inner layer of the ovary.

The juvenile mangosteen fruit, first appears as pale green or almost white in the shade of the canopy. As the fruit enlarges over the next two to three months, the exocarp colour deepens to darker green. During this period, the fruit increases in size until its exocarp is 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) in outside diameter, remaining hard until a final, abrupt ripening stage.

The subsurface chemistry of the mangosteen exocarp comprises an array of polyphenols, including xanthones and tannins that assure astringency which discourages infestation by insects, fungi, plant viruses, bacteria and animal predation while the fruit is immature. Colour changes and softening of the exocarp are natural processes of ripening that indicates the fruit can be eaten and the seeds have finished developing.

The edible endocarp of the mangosteen is botanically defined as an aril with the same shape and size as a tangerine 4–6 centimetres in diameter, but is white. The circle of wedge-shaped arils contains 4–8, rarely 9 segments, the larger ones harbouring apomictic seeds that are unpalatable unless roasted.
Often described as a subtle delicacy, the arils bear an exceptionally mild aroma, quantitatively having about 1/400th of the chemical constituents of fragrant fruits, explaining its relative mildness.


The Queen of fruits, mangosten



 

The inside of mangosteen

The fruit mangosteen is seldom appeared in Yixing teapot design. The reason could be that this fruit is not popular in China and many potters have no idea how the teapot will look like when crafted into the shape of a mangosteen. As you know, most potters would rather like to copy existing teapot design or modify somebody's design.

The King of fruits, Durian

However, there is a potter by the name of Zhou Juefang (周菊芳), a student of Prof Pan, created her very own mangosteen teapot. The teapot looks very cute and unique. Instead of the traditional knob on the lid, a stalk with some petals sit on top of the lid. This design of the lid will immediately remind people that the fruit is a mangosteen. For people who live in this part of the world where mangosteens are aplenty, it is a nostalgic experience to have a mangosteen teapot to brew tea. Interestingly, people here also like another tropical fruit called durian locally. Durian fruits which have a pungent smell (to some people) are considered the King of fruits here. Then mangosteen fruits which have a subtle taste and mild fragrance are considered the queen of fruits. Durians are by nature fruits that can
cause heatiness but mangosteens on the other hand have cooling effects. So these two fruits can really compliment each other.

Mangosteen teapots by Zhou Juefang
周菊芳
性别：女
证书编号：320223670816158
类别:工艺美术师

 

The pumpkins

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash native to North America. It typically has a thick, orange or yellow shell, creased from the stem to the bottom, containing the seeds and pulp. Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use, and are used both in food and recreation.

 

Pumpkins generally weigh 9–18 lbs (4–8 kg) with the largest (of the species C. maxima) capable of reaching a weight of over 75 lbs (34 kg). The pumpkin varies greatly in shape, ranging from oblate to oblong. The rind is smooth and usually lightly ribbed. Although pumpkins are usually orange or yellow, some fruits are dark green, pale green, orange-yellow, white, red and gray.

Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking. Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves, and even the flowers. In the United States and Canada, pumpkin is a popular Halloween and Thanksgiving staple. Homemade pumpkin purée can serve the same purpose.

When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked, steamed, or roasted. In its native North America, it is a very important, traditional part of the autumn harvest, eaten mashed and making its way into soups and purees. Often, it is made into pie, various kinds of which are a traditional staple of the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holidays. In Canada, Mexico, the United States, Europe and China, the seeds are often roasted and eaten as a snack.

Prof Pan's brown pumpkin set
 

Yixing potters, past and present, have created many teapot designs based on pumpkin. This shows the popularity of pumpkin among the potters to put some artistic forms  of pumpkin in the teapots they made. Of all the pumpkin teapots I have seen, I particularly like the one created by Prof Pan Chunfang of the Nanjing Academy of Art. Unlike other potters who like to make the pumpkin teapots with  very regular segments and a smooth texture, Prof Pan created a pumpkin teapot which is in a way distorted in shape and the texture of the skin is rather rough. This truly reflects pumpkin as it appears in its natural form. He also created four cups that come with the teapot and these cups are also irregular in shape with a rough texture. The pumpkin teapots set thus becomes Prof Pan's masterpieces and had won him international acclaim. He made the teapots using the finest of Yixing zisha and the teapot comes in two colours, brown and red zisha. If you take a closer look at the teapot, you would admire Prof Pan's talent, creativity and mastery of teapot making skills. No wonder he was seconded to the Nanjing Academy of Art to be a professor running design and art courses to craftsmen who want to upgrade their skills and innovation in teapot designs.

Prof Pan's red pumpkin set



Traditional pumpkin teapot

 
 

   

Prof Pan's exhibition flyer

The form, spirit and character of Yixing teapot Pt2

The art of producing zisha tea wares developed as the result of the cumulative experience of generations of potters and folk craftsmen. It has been an evolutionary process based on the characteristics of the purple clay and involving the continual refinement of traditional techniques.

In the previous posting, I mentioned that the renowned potter Gu Zingzhou, through continual research and and striving for refinement over the past half century, had concluded that three qualities are essential for creative endeavour in teapot making. They are form, spirit and character. I also discussed the various aspects of form, spirit and character that made the Yixing tea wares the daily utensils that combined functionality and artistic appeal to the users.

Art in itself is feeling and affection. However, even the strongest feeling has to remain numb without the knowledge of shapes, lines, volume and ratio and the solid training of pottery skills. A perfect work in itself is filled with a strong desire to be expressive and to affect people. Lines and surfaces are nothing else but signs of the inner truth. Our eyes penetrate the surface and reach to the heart. When we express a form image, we enrich it with our latent character.

If a new teapot possesses and harmonises the qualities of form, spirit and character, then it can be called a good piece of work. However, this is not easy to achieve. It requires solid basic skills, a rich experience in life, and well disciplined techniques. The potter has to understand and master clay material, techniques of shaping, firing, and a series of complicated production processes. In short, the art has to be precise, rustic, frank and has to express one's own feelings. To possess the qualities of form, spirit and character in a teapot, one's work needs to manifest a rhythmic vitality, demonstrating a powerful artistic effect.


Large teapot by Shao Dahen

 

An Artistic creation

Elegantly designed teapot

The form, spirit and character of Yixing teapot Pt 1

Recent years have witnessed a revival of the purple clay (zisha) tea wares of Yixing. Old masters have produced new creations while middle-aged craftsmasters have inherited the tradition and are now excelling in different directions. A new generation of young masters has rapidly developed and taken its place in competition for excellence. The art of Yixing pottery is now experiencing an unprecedented prosperity.In this posting I will discuss briefly the creative aspects of the art of teapot making.

The art of producing zisha tea wares developed as the result of the cumulative experience of generations of potters and folk craftsmen. It has been an evolutionary process based on the characteristics of the purple clay and involving the continual refinement of traditional techniques.

Through continual research and and striving for refinement over the past half century, the renowned potter Gu Zingzhou had concluded that three qualities are essential for creative endeavour in teapot making. They are form, spirit and character.

The first quality form means the image which depends on depth and dexterity of form building as well as individual form design. The arrangement of large surface, i.e, the teapot body, must be clear and precise. The emphasis of each part, such as sprout, handle, mouth, base, foot, lid and knob must be clear. The direction of each component, from point to line to surface, must be clearly marked. The creation and development of each part, its traditions, its prominence, its metamorphosis and its contrasts must be well defined o obtain the depth of form styling. The form quality of a work of a work emerges with the satisfactory treatment of these points, lines and surfaces.

The second quality spirit is the "feeling" transmitted through the from image of the teapot. When designing teapots one should  not limit oneself only to the surface. One should devote attention to the three dimensional volume. All life originates from a centre growing from inside to outside areas. The seed germinates, grows, and blossoms into colour. One has to imagine that the teapot shape is facing you, addressing you and expressing itself to you. This kind of form has a strong latent energy and this kind of work has life and spirit.

The third quality character is the quality of beauty contained in the form. Purple clay teapots are utensils of art and craft. Not only are they utensils for daily use, they are also items of decorative art, possessing an art quality. The products have to be beautiful. As daily utensils, they have to combine aesthetic as well as practical qualities. They should be decorative as well as practical in life. They are convenient to use as well as satisfying to appreciate. Their beauty can be felt in the routine of normal use. This is beauty in character, a healthy beauty, not a diseased quality.

The three qualities demonstrated in the work here

Another example of perfection in teapot design

The good quality work requires creativity and talent