Handmade Double-Layer Openwork Jianshui Zitao Pottery Teapot – Chinese Dragon

This Jianshui teapot employs a unique decorative technique from Yunnan Jianshui Zitao pottery—Dui Diao (堆雕, belongs to a type of relief sculpture). This involves stacking and carving clay on the surface of the un-fired pottery body to form three-dimensional or semi-three-dimensional patterns and decorations. Combined with the unique unglazed polishing process of Jianshui purple pottery, it ultimately presents a distinctively layered and uniquely textured artistic effect.

The maker must first sketch the pattern outlines on the surface of the pottery body, determine the layers and detail layout for the relief sculpture, and then use clay that is either the same color or distinctly different in color from the body. The clay is adjusted to the appropriate moisture level, and then layered onto the body using tools. After stacking, the clay is finely carved to enhance the texture's three-dimensionality and dynamic quality. Once the relief sculpture is complete, the body must be slowly air-dried, then fired at high temperatures unique to Jianshui purple pottery (about 1100-1200°C) in a reduction flame. Finally, it is polished without glaze to highlight the glossy three-dimensionality of the relief sculpture.

The entire process takes about 110 hours, and the yield rate of finished products is extremely low, making each piece especially precious. These teapots are entirely handmade, with each one being unique. It not only tests the artisan's modeling skills but also relies on their control over the characteristics of the clay, representing a perfect fusion of material nature and artistic imagination.

Same as the Zisha and Nixing teapot, the new Jianshui teapot may lack of gloss, but it will become more and more shiny and metallic with our daily use and the nourishment of tea liquid.

Material

The clay of Jianshui Zitao comes from Wucai Mountain in Jianshui County, Yunnan. The common clays are purple, white, blue, yellow, and other colors. Jianshui pottery has the reputation of "hard as iron, bright as water, smooth as jade and sound like a chime". It contains high iron content, the made utensils have high hardness, and the texture is fine with metal-like texture. The making of Jianshui utensils pays attention to fine workmanship, especially decoration. It uses calligraphy engraving and colorful-mud inlaying as the main technology, integrating painting, calligraphy, engraving, inlay, and other decorative arts, which is extremely practical and ornamental.

Origin

Jianshui County is located in the eastern part of Yunnan Province. The terrain is high in the south and low in the north. The Wulao Peak in the south is the highest point with an elevation of 2515 meters. The discovery of the pottery balls and pottery net pendants dating back more than 3,500 years in the Yanzidong Neolithic Site in Jianshui County proves that Jianshui had primitive pottery craftsmanship as early as the Neolithic Age, and Jianshui ceramics sprouted in the late Neolithic Age.

History

Jianshui Zitao went through the Han, Tang and Song dynasties and grew up in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. There is a saying of “Celadon famous in Song dynasty, blue and white porcelain famous in Ming dynasty and Zitao famous in late Qing dynasty”.

In 1921, Jianshui Zitao Pottery won the Fine Arts Award at the Panama International Fair.

In 1953, at the National Folk Arts and Crafts Exhibition held in Beijing, Jianshui Zitao Pottery was listed as one of China's four famous potteries by the Ministry of Culture.

In July 2016, the former AQSIQ approved the implementation of geographical indication product protection for "Jianshui Zitao Pottery".