Handmade Rong Chang Pottery Teapot – Xishi

Rong Chang pottery, together with Yixing Zisha in Jiangsu, Jianshui pottery in Yunnan, and Nixing pottery in Qinzhou, is known as the Four Great Famous Potteries in China. It is “thin as paper, red as jujube, bright as a mirror, and sound like a chime.” This teapot is made by Wang Yan, a master of arts and crafts in Chongqing. The clay is fine and reddish, and it is beautifully ornamented with twisted mud art. As we utilize and take care of it, it will get more bright and polished.

Material

Rongchang clay has abundant deposits and is red or white in color. The white clay mostly comprises aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, and a tiny amount of iron, whereas the red clay has a significant iron concentration. The clay has a fine texture, a lovely hue, is very flexible, and performs well during sintering. It is the ideal ceramic raw material because of its low moisture content and shallow burial. Craft pottery items are made with smooth enamel, elegant and useful body shapes, a clear and pleasing sound when hit, and the qualities of no leakage and good freshness retention.

Origin

Rongchang pottery is originated on Anfu Street in Chongqing's Rongchang District. It was known as Ciyaoli before to the Qing Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was the first to use historically verifiable ceramics. It flourished during the Ming and Qing dynasties and peaked throughout the 1970s. It was shipped to Southeast Asia over a century ago, and has been sold in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Japan, and other countries since the 1960s. It is now the major ceramic manufacturing base in the whole southwest area. Every school in Anfu has a pottery class to pass on the ceramic craft.