Ding Yaping

Ding Yaping, another Yixing potter who is very skillful in crafting square teapots. It is well known in Yixing that square teapots are harder to make as compared to their round counterparts. This is because square teapots require precision in joining flat and square slabs of clay to form the shape of the body. Joining the handle and sprouts to this square body again requires skills and perfection in the trade. Moreover, during firing at high temperature, square teapots inevitably suffer from problems such as warping, shrinkage and cracking.

Hexagon shaped teapot by Ding Yaping

This teapot by Ding was acquired during the early days when he was still relatively unknown. The segmented hexagonal teapot by Ding demonstrated his skills in shaping such a difficult shape. The cover and the teapot match perfectly with no sign of warping. All the six sides of the teapot again show no sign of warping and they joined perfectly to form the body of the pot. Although  the teapots were made for the export market, the quality is superb. Another plus point is that the potter has now become a celebrity in his own right. He has made it to the rank of senior craftsmaster at Yixing.