Handmade Jianshui Zitao Pottery Teapot – Hand Painted Xi Shi

In addition to the carving decoration, hand-painting and calligraphy are also very classic decoration techniques of Jianshui Zitao. This teapot is based on Xishi, with hand-painted lotus and lotus leaves on one side of the body, and the words "Jing Xin Le Dao" on the other side. With a capacity of 130ml, the overall is small and exquisite, but it is easy to use and the pouring is very smoothly.

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.

About the "painting craft" on the Jianshui teapot.

This particular craft is called "Cai Tian" (彩填). First of all, the painters need to complete the preliminary painting on the semi-dry teapot body, and then the engraver will carve the patterns or characters into grooves.

Then according to the patterns, mix with mineral pigments and white clay to get the desired colors, and fill them into the carved grooves.

Finally, tapped to remove the bubbles inside, modification, and then firing. The resulting patterns will not fall off and will not fade by time.

Maker

Liu Haoguo, born in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province in 1972, is currently a Jianshui Zitao craftsman and is engaged in the creation of Jianshui pottery carvings. In 1988, 16-year-old Liu Haoguo entered into the Jingdezhen industry and started to learn ceramic painting skills, under the famous teacher Zhang Jingsheng. He was focused on painting, using the most natural and simple ceramic art methods to express rich visual experience. In 2015, with the rapid rise of Jianshui Zitao, Liu Haoguo decided to go to Jianshui to engage in Jianshui pottery sculpture creation. As a craftsman who has never been in touch with Jianshui Zitao, he must learn from the beginning. Fortunately, with many years of ceramic painting skills, he successfully mastered the clay characteristics and shaping requirements of Jianshui Zitao in a relatively short time. His works are refreshing and amazing, and are favored by the market and appreciated by the majority of Jianshui teapot lovers.

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".