Yixing Teapots - Xu Xueqaing CHN
Mr. Xu Xueqiang lives and works in the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province in eastern China near the vast Tai Hu Lake and the city of Shanghai. He runs a small but relatively well-known studio with several students. Teapots are made partly by hand and partly in a mold. The beginning of production is the same as for completely handmade teapots and the final fine tuning takes place in the form where the finished body is inserted into the plaster mold and shaped with a finger.
More...Yixing pottery
is a type of Chinese ceramics, it is made from c'-sha clay. This is a type of clay that is mined around the city of Yixing in the Jiangsu province of China. Its use can be traced back to the Song period (960-1279). This pottery (earthenware) is mainly used for the production of teapots, which are in the vast majority of cases unglazed. Sometimes this clay is also called Purple Sand.
After the c'-sha clay is mined separately, large impurities and other types of clay are removed. The clay is then dried in the sun to prepare it for subsequent crushing and grinding into powder, which is sifted through very dense bamboo sieves. The resulting dust is then covered with fresh water and the excess water is again allowed to evaporate. Only after this process is the clay delivered to the potters who continue to work with the clay. First, they knead the clay thoroughly to remove small air bubbles. Next comes the actual creation of the objects. The firing of this pottery takes place at significantly lower temperatures than, for example, porcelain, which results in a much higher resistance to large temperature changes.
Yixing pottery is divided according to the type of clay from which the item is made. The clay is divided into three basic types:
C'-sha - dark brown earthenware, the most common type.
Zhu-ni - With a large admixture of iron, reddish brown stoneware. It is the most appreciated.
Tuan-ni - Contains many different admixtures. For this reason, it can range in color from beige to green to blue to black.