Alan's Cyber Museum: Form, Spirit and Character of Yixing teapots

Teapot by Sha Dahen

According to the legendary teapot Grand Master, Gu Zingzhou, the most essential qualities of a Yixing teapot are form, spirit and character. This was what he revealed in an article he wrote in 1988 through continuous research and striving for refinement over the past half-century in teapot making. If you understand these qualities of Yixing teapots as expressed by Gu, it will enable you to select a teapot which will not only serve you well, it can also bring you endless delight and satisfaction.

Designed and made by Gu

The first quality is Form. Form for a teapot means formal image which depends on the depth and dexterity of form building as well as individual form design. The arrangement of large surface, ie, the teapot body, must be clear and precise. The emphasis of each part, such as sprout, handle, mouth, base, foot, lid and knob must be clear. The direction of each component, from point to line to surface, must be clearly marked. The origin and development of each part, its traditions, its prominence, its metamorphosis and its contrasts must be well defined to obtain the depth of form styling. The formal quality of a work emerges with the satisfactory treatment of these points, lines and surfaces. The work is thus animated.

Teapots by Prof Pan

The second quality is Spirit. This is the "feeling" transmitted through the formal image of the teapot. When designing teapots one should not limit oneself only to the surface. One should devote attention to the three dimensional volume. All life originates from a center growing from inside to outside areas. The seed germinates, grows, and blossoms into colour. One has to imagine that the teapot shape is facing you, addressing you and expressing itself to you. This kind of form has a strong latent energy and this kind of work has life and spirit.

Teapot by an old master

The third quality is Character. The teapot should have a certain character. This is the quality of beauty contained in the form. Purple clay teapots are utilitarian products of art and craft. They are both daily utensils as well as items of decorative art, possessing an artistic quality. The products have to be beautiful. Since teapots are daily utensils, they have to combine aesthetic as well as practical qualities. They should be decorative as swell as practical in purpose. They are convenient to use and satisfying to appreciate. Their beauty can be felt in the routine of normal use. This is beauty in character, a healthy beauty, not a deceased quality.

Teapot by Xu Giankuo

Art in itself is feeling and affection. However, even the strongest feeling has to remain numb without knowledge of shapes, lines, volume and the solid basic training of pottery skills. A perfect work in itself is filled with a strong desire to be expressive and to affect people. Lines and surfaces are nothing else but signs of the inner truth. Our eyes penetrate the surface and reach to the heart. When we express a formal image, we enrich it with our latent character.

If a teapot possesses and harmonizes the three qualities of form, spirit and character, then it can be called a good piece of work. However, this is not easy to achieve, It requires solid basic skills, a rich experience in life, and well disciplined techniques. The potter has to understand and master clay material, techniques of shaping, firing and a series of complicated production processes. In short the art has to be precise, rustic, frank and has to express one's own feelings. To possess the qualities of form, spirit and character, one's work needs a manifest a rhythmic vitality, demonstrating a powerful artistic effect.

Made by Zhu Kexin

Gu Zingzhou was born in 1915 in Yixing, Jiangsu Province. He was a National Craft Master, a member of the the National Artist Association and a Senior Craft Master. Gu was one of the most outstanding potters in purple clay of our age. His teapots are very sough after in auction houses and prices of over ten millions RMB are not uncommon.