Since the first zisha clay teapot was made, in China, almost a thousand years ago, teapot art has and has not changed.  It has not changed, in that themes from hundreds of years ago are still redone by current artists, having been redone time and again over the centuries.  Some might say that mimicking is the highest form of flattery, but we say all that shows is technical skill, while we believe art is about evolution and creativity.  The good thing that has not changed is that teapots are still made of zisha clay, which is a perfect material to make teapots plus it is nontoxic, which is not the case with many ceramics or ceramic glazes.

In our first blog entry about Yixing zisha teapots, we included a recent copy of the purported first teapot, made to look like it was made of tree bark.  That theme has been copied through the ages, and some of the copies are actually worth a little money.  Another theme from way back to the Ming Dynasty, is the "tiger" on top of a tree stump.  Indeed, the tiger has been replaced by other animals, and we display 3 examples, below.  One cheaper reproduction has the same writing as on the original Ming Dynasty version and some detail relief on the stump  One with a leopard instead of a tiger has a very high price tag because the artist has taken painstaking and time consuming efforts to make detailed "fur" on the tiny leopard by, first, making small multi-colored spots, using clay of different colors, and, then, delicately detailing the body with a small knife.  The detail can only be appreciated by viewing it under a magnifying glass and by gently running your fingers over it.  He has also agreed not to make any others like it, so that it is one of a kind.  The final one that we display has a frog instead of a tiger, but it has a separate clay layer to represent the bark, which is pealing away from the dead tress stump as would happen in reality.  The brown clay of the bark is rough like tree bark, and there are cracks in the bark.  The yellow clay, used for the wood, is smooth, and it has checks (cracks from uneven moisture and ring) on the exposed surfaces, including the top of the stump.  A final adornment is extra detailed branching around the main branches that make up the handle and the spout.  As a woodworker, I can really appreciate the attention to detail on the tree stump.  In fact, although this particular artist continues to make this type of teapot, 1) he makes each one completely different from any other, and 2) he uses other animals to sit on top of the stump.  Thus, a theme that is even around a thousand years old can still be kept fresh, if a little creativity is used.

     

There are more recent themes, over the last 100 years, that have also been copied and varied by students of the original masters and others trying to either make fraudulent copies or to see how they stack up against a more recent teapot art master sculptor.  Jiang Rong and her teacher have been copied by their students and progeny over the past half century, for example.  Although it is nice to have the originals, in your collection, and, if not the originals, a technically good imitation, it seems a bit absurd to us that some contemporary artists charge tens of thousands of Yuan for such re-makes of their creative teachers.  In our private collection we have both originals and copies and we love them all.

Not to despair, Chinese teapot art is still evolving, as art does, and as it should.  We have seen really beautiful, creative and wonderfully-rendered new themes, in teapot art.  One example is Lu Wen Xia who has made many teapots in the bamboo theme, making teapots that look like they were made of sections of bamboo logs, cobbled together.  There is also great attention to detail, such as in the one shown below, which, not only an apparent chip in an edge of a bamboo section, but also a mimmicked split in the edge of the wall, as would happen if you rough-sawed a bamboo log (as a furniture and wood artist, I know this).  There is also a "rusty" screw on the faceplate of that teapot.



It is so life like in the way that the clay is textured and colored to make it appear like real bamboo.  It has chips and checks, and there appears to be a rusty screw on the side facing out.  There is a sort of thank you note written on the side.  We have other teapots in the bamboo theme by Lu Wen Xia, in the Leona Craig Gallery Teapot section.

Lotus teapot themes have been around for centuries and they have taken many forms.  Many just copy the ones that Jiang Rong made.  Here is one that we particularly like by a younger artist, Jiang Mei Zhen.  The whole teapot is a blooming lotus blossom with real detail, made from natural green zisha clay.  Then, on the lid, the pull is a separate piece, which is also a miniature lotus blossom, and there is a frog, whose eyes move, and a lady bug, just to make it lucky.

 

Two final pieces that are very different and show creativity are a Rhinoceros teapot by Sun Jin Li.  The eyes are realistic implants, and the rhino has a realistic look.  The only thing that we object to is that a mold has been made for this teapot, and they are made by mold and finished by hand.  However, it is such a great new idea for teapot design that others are already imitating it.  The other is a complete lotus plant, including the roots, trailers and flower pads, by Lu Wen Xia, who is one of our favorite contemporary teapot artists.  There is always loving care in her work, and she often makes only one copy of her teapots.

  

We hope that you have appreciated the teapots that we have included in this segment of our blog.  You can see these teapots and others by the artists whose we have included, above, and other artists, in the Leona Craig Art Gallery on-line.  You can download our analysis of the teapot market, "Tempest in Teapots" on the In Country Analysis page of our website where you can also get our report, "The Chinese Art Markets".