Endearing Yixing Teapots

Teapot painted with Famille Rose Enamels circa 1800's

Lately I have much success selling teapots.  Although the bulk of our inventory is in antique furniture, we still have a small collection of Chinese ceramics that includes Yixing teapots.  Most people may not associate the name Yixing to the fanciful pottery teapots they see all over China, and in tea shops and Museum gift shops in the United States.  These teapots, handmade by potters in Yixing, Jiangsu Province in Southeast China, were and still remain for three hundred years, the best vessel for brewing tea. 

Yixing, a name synonymous with tea and tea ware, is located west of Taihu in Jiangsu province.  Until the Song dynasty (960-1279), this area was known as Yangxian.  Yixing is one of the great pottery centers of China.  Moreover, it is noted for its scenic beauty and association with many people and events. The proximity to three important cities - Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou made Yixing an ideal location for a pottery center.  The surrounding hills have rich deposits of clay and plenty of fuel for firing. The nearby lake and the network of rivers and canals are convenient for transporting and distributing the finished products. The color of the fired pottery objects in rich purple brown gave the wares the popular name of Zisha – purple sand. 

Today Zisha teapots come in a wide range of colors and designs.  Some are just brilliant; they take on the most creative shapes and designs.  The plain teapots in globular or simple geometric forms are the best for inscribers to engrave paintings and calligraphy.  The teapots I have been selling were made around the turn of the century.  Collectors specially like teapots with famous potters and inscribers.  Others look for interesting shapes, and some collectors buy teapots that were imported for sale at the Chinese pavilions at International World’s Fairs beginning in 1876 in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and so forth.

I randomly picked a few ………………..Enjoy! 

 All three teapots above were made at the turn of the 20 century, the first in the shape of a hat, the second was a fine shape to show off calligraphy and the third was in the shape of an archaic bronze vessel with a dragon spout.

 Teapot above is a typical piece that were offered for 
sale in the Chinese Pavilions in the World's Fairs.
This one in the form of a tree trunk and decorated with branches and flowers of the plum tree - or prunus, circa 1900's.

Teapot to the left is a sweet contemporary piece with an overhead handle.  It is also decorated in the theme of the plum blossoms.

 This red pottery teapot was exported to Europe and refitted with a silver spout.  A similar teapot was recovered in an 18 century shipwreck.

 A fun piece - a collection of fruit and nuts, from the 1980's: walnut, chestnut, gingko, caltrop, peanut, sunflower seed etc.

Directly above is a miniature teapot in a beautiful purple sand color clay.  The one on the top right has an unusual form with two brewing chambers. To the right is a beautifully burnished pot with a buffalo finial on the cover.  All three teapots were made in the 1900's to 1930's.

An interesting contemporary teapot in the form of a wooden well bucket.

Finally we have a large teapot with a handle that was made by a metal smith in Thailand.  The Thai imported teapots like this one and burnished it until it achieved a glass like sheen.

If you have Yixing teapots and would like to learn more about them, please leave comments. Now I am ready for a cup of tea.