Unusual dragon head pot

The dragon head teapot was the brain child of Shao Dahen, a reknown potter even the teapot master Gu Jingzhou himself admired. Gu once said Shao was the greatest potter ever lived.

Teapot made by Shao Dahen

The dragon heat teapot featured a movable head where the tonge can stick out from its mouth when the pot is tilted to pour tea out. One side of the body featured a half dragon partially immersed in the rough seas while the the other side featured a fish turning in waves. The teapot has a traditional name of 'fish turning into dragon'.

This teapot was mass produced in the early years. But there are some good pieces made during the early Republic era, post 1911. Many great potters of that perood also like to make this teapot. The notable one was Huang Yulin whose dragon head teapot became the standard for others to imitate. Such an adorable design, a teapot with movable parts.

The above teapot was brought over from China and displayed in an exhibition in the 1990s. The asking price of $11999 was just too high for the collectors then. As i knew the exhibitors, i got it for a much lower price after the exhition. I believed this was a piece made in the later years of the Republic era. I stiill could not figured out who thr potter was.