The art of making zisha teapots, originated, in Yixing, China, during the Ming Dynasty, over 500 years ago (1368-1644 AD).  Indeed, that first teapot, called the Gong Chun, was very artistic, and is still copied and varied, into the present day.  However, today, true teapot art is not appreciated, in China.  Having only risen from a poor rural society, several decades, ago, the idea or mindset of interior decoration has not yet caught on with most people, in China.  As a result, few people appreciate art, and even fewer understand the concept.  The teapot market, in particular, suffers from this lack of art appreciation.

Even when people have caught on to the idea of art investment, they still usually lack experience with knowing what is good or bad art.  A prominent art dealer, in Beijing, recently said it best: "Chinese people buy art with their ears, not their eyes."  In the teapot market that translates, first, into the amount of effort that has gone into convincing Chinese people that Yixing zisha teapots are a true Chinese art.  Thereafter, people tend to invest large sums of money into  a teapot artist who has a name, for some reason, but produces many copies of standard teapot themes, nothing innovative or creative.  Moreover, those teapots by famous artists command prices that are way out of line with other segments of the teapot and more general art markets, going for $10,000 to $20,000.  The result is that teapot prices are skewed away from really the thoughtful, technically detailed, and artistic end of the teapot market, and that segment of the market contains art that is relatively undervalued. 

To fill in some background (see our website on the In Country Analysis Page for more analysis of the General Art and Teapot Art Markets), Teapot art from Yixing has been marketed by the government and by Yixing.  The teapots are unique because zisha clay comes from only that part of the world.  China (or India, according to the present dispute) discovered tea, and it was the first to make teapots, during the Ming Dynasty, having used ceramic cups to steep it in a few dynasties before.  Thus, it is easy to promote Yixing zisha teapots as a true Chinese art: marketing economies of scale that any teapot maker can lay claim to.  There have been some famous teapot makers over the many years.  Many of the current high-priced masters are either from family or are students of famous teapot makers.  At Leona Craig Art, we simply cannot justify paying up to $20,000 for a close copy of a famous teapot maker of the past.  We invest in art, and we understand that art markets must make sense vis-a-vis one another.

At Leona Craig we appreciate art in all of its different forms.  We have been buying ceramic art for four decades at various places around the world, and we have always bought it for its artist content in addition to its quality and technical execution.  Indeed, we appreciate the execution of those masters who dwell on the traditional or mundane, but we prefer more creative teapot art.  Indeed, we have endeavored to put together a reasonably priced collection of teapots, most of which are artistic or creative variations on standard themes, and we have also focused on finding teapot artists who create true and different art.  We believe that, as time goes on, the more artistic, creative, and relatively scarcely copied teapots will become more prized in the market.

You can see some of the work of the latest teapot artist that we have added to the Leona Craig Art Gallery, Zhu Qiu, on the Zhu Qiu Page of the Leona Craig Yixing Zisha Teapot Art Gallery.