Antique Shiwan Stoneware Tea Pourer, China (19445GOK)

Description

Stoneware teapots like this were commonly used in Chinese villages as domestic wares, often accompanied by a a set of cups. This hexagonal pot with short spout and round handle appears to have been based on a wood prototype of a tea caddy in which the raised horizontal band slightly above the mid-point of the pot is molded to resemble the metal band which would have held the components of a wood tea caddy together and the top resembles the horizontal locking mechanism that would have slid into the flaring vertical sidepieces. This pot is a prototypical piece of Shiwan stoneware made in Shiwan kilns recognized for their fine modeling, vivid expression, and colorful glazes. The kilns reached their height during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties when they were known as the “Pottery Capital” creating functional-and-utilitarian wares for daily use including teaware, pouring-vessels, plates, wall vases, chopsticks holders, candlesticks, oil lamps, and other pieces. Shiwan potters mixed waste materials with local coarse sand and inexpensive clay, perhaps one of the earliest and artistic forms of recycling. Useing long “dragon kilns” with uneven heating conditions they created unique artistic effects and a wide range of distinctive colors including the apple-green and drip glaze often with tiny “sesame dot” markings. As noted by Scollard, “Irregularities in the glazing due to materials used and inconsistencies of kiln temperature are characteristic of Shiwan ware add to its unique charm.”  Although historically overshadowed by imperial kilns, in the past several decades, appreciation for Shiwan wares and their unique glazes has grown and they are now prized as a distinctive, respected, and collected art form. It is in very good condition with minor discoloration and wear consistent with age. This piece is part of the VA Antique-Chinese-Ceramics-and-Pottery Collection.  A piece almost identical to this piece in included in the catalogue of an exhibition of Shiwan Ceramics the Chinese Cultural Foundation of Chicago on page 51.

Sources:

Fredrikke Scollard and Terese Tse Bartholomew, Shiwan Ceramics: Beauty Color and  Passion, San Francisco, Chinese Cultural Foundation of San Francisco, 1994.

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