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A bottle and its big mate (2) - A yixing bottle

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Author Topic: A bottle and its big mate (2) - A yixing bottle  (Read 1806 times)
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Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush
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« on: October 09, 2012, 02:02:14 pm »

Dear all,
This is the second bottle that has a big mate. In the case of the previous one with the 18 deer, monkey and spider net, I first found its big mate, the hat stand, then the bottle.
Instead, in this case I first found the bottle. I like it immediately but, here you can see how much I have to learn, I didn’t realize that it was a Yixing bottle. After a while I found the tea pot then I realized that the bottle too was a Yixing piece. They are the only Yixing examples in my collection, and for coincidence they bear the same decoration. Both pieces came from the same old collector.
Eager to hear your comments about this bottle. I would date it to the 19th century.
Kind regards
Giovanni


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Steven
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« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2012, 02:29:27 pm »

Hi Giovanni,

Thank you for sharing, what a great collection its!

The glazed xiying ware is very very rear, most of the glazed xiying bottle are only partially glazed , and left the craved area or painting open without glazed like the image I attaced( in chinese term' kai guang'), I found a fully glazed one in Bonhams date 19th , and sold more than $2000.00.

Steven



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Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush
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« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2012, 03:23:26 pm »

Wow dear Steven, thank you. In fact I too have always seen Yixing bottles carved or only partially decorated with enamels. I believe that the spoon is original because of its lenght, pity the stopper is missed. As you can see in the pictures, very unusual for Yixing ware in my opinion is that the base too is enameled. The base of the teapot is not enameled, for example. The bottle is 8 cm high.
Kind regards
Giovanni

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Wattana
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« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2012, 01:01:26 am »

Hi Giovanni,

I agree with Steven, it is quite rare to find Yixing wares that are glazed over the entire surface. They are both very fine examples, although I have not enough experience of Yixing to date them for you. I would not worry about the stopper. Very few Yixing snuff bottles have an original matching stopper, and that does not affect the value much.

Out of interest, can you post a picture of the base of your teapot? Is there a maker's mark on it? the mark could even be inside the lid.

Tom 
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Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush
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« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2012, 01:17:11 am »

Thank you dear Tom.
Below are a picture of the base and the inner side of the cover, where there is an inscription that has not been translated.
Kind regards
Giovanni


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Wattana
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« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2012, 01:37:31 am »

Thank you Giovanni,

Someone with good knowledge of Yixing pottery should be able to identify the maker's symbol for you. The mark is almost certainly that of a well-known studio. The inscription may be the individual potter's mark, or may simply be there to help match the pot and its lid after firing. (Many items are fired at one time, but similar shaped items are often grouped together, so lids would be separated from the pots by the kiln operator. Sorting out what pot goes with which lid can be confusing unless they are marked in some way.)

Tom
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Lotus Flower
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« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2012, 01:51:48 am »

wow, they are both really beautiful. I have never seen a teapot with a symbol like that on the base, thank you for enlightening me. Is it a Ding? There is a topic on gotheborg that discusses that type of shape as being late 19th Century.

LINK: http://www.gotheborg.com/discus/read.php?file=/8825/48916.html&lm=1096828929

Giovanni, would you please mind posting a clearer picture of the mark inside the lid? It looks like it's in Kaishu and I'd like to have a go at translating it.

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« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2012, 01:58:05 am »

Hi James,

I cannot access the link. It may be in the private 'members' area of Gotheborg.

Tom
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Lotus Flower
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« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2012, 02:10:20 am »

Hi Tom. Are you a member? You must be a member to view the topics within the forum. If you are a member, try searching for the topic title, which is: "A well used teapot".

James
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Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush
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« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2012, 02:11:29 am »

Dear Tom,
gotheborg.com is accessible to registered members only. You must pay an annual fee for that.
Dear James, I am not expert about Yixing ware and I don't know what you exactly mean by "Ding" in this case. I will take a better picture of the characters under the lid later and will post it.
Thank you very much.
Giovanni
Edit: Dear James we did answer at the same time to Tom.
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Lotus Flower
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« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2012, 02:21:37 am »

Giovanni, inside the teapot, what does the inside of the spout look like? Is there one big hole for the water to pour through or are there many holes?

Also, if you feel around inside the teapot, can you feel a veritcal join near the inside of the handle? OR can you feel a horizontal seam going around the middle of the whole teapot?

Also, if you can, would you mind posting a photo of where the handle joins the body.... and also where the spout joins the body. There are some things to look for Smiley


James
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Lotus Flower
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« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2012, 02:24:26 am »

P.S When I said Ding  I was referring to the 3-legged bronze vessel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_%28vessel%29
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« Reply #12 on: October 10, 2012, 02:34:58 am »

Thank you dear James, I will check all this later at home.
Giovanni
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Wattana
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« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2012, 03:06:07 am »


You must be a member to view the topics within the forum. If you are a member, try searching for the topic title, which is: "A well used teapot".


No, I am not a member. But I have browsed the site a few times before (from THIS forum's link), and didn't notice any restrictions.

Tom
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« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2012, 03:47:04 am »

Hello Tom,
you can access the main page and from there many pages (marks, chronology and so on) but if you access to the "Discussion board" then you reach a page with the various topics and the titles of the threads. From there, to access a thread you are requested to input the name and password. So the discussion forum is only for registered members.
Giovanni
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« Reply #15 on: October 10, 2012, 03:57:53 am »

Thanks Giovanni for explaining to me how it works. Well, that is similar to "this" forum.

Tom
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« Reply #16 on: October 10, 2012, 07:24:08 am »

Dear James,
here below is a better picture of the two characters under the lid.
The spout has just two holes behind it, see second picture.
Pictures three and four are showing the connection between handles, spout and main body. It is all weel smooth, no junction can be felt or seen.
I can't feel junctions inside the body. It seems that it has been potted in a single piece, on which the very upper part, (the neck if you want) has been applied. In fact I can only feel by fingers a joint under the collar of the neck. For a better understand, the joint can be felt under the circular area indicated by the red arrows in the last picture.
Thank you for looking at this.
Giovanni


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« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2012, 09:58:20 am »

Dear Giovanni,

That is a really interesting mark on your pot, it looks like a hotpot to me:), normally the Mark on the Yixing wares are personal studio mark( most likely the craftman's name), and there are thousands different Marks over the periods, some famous one are copied a lot and be faked,some are very rear which like yours.

The Mark on your lid can be read'裕光' Yu guang, I can't find much info on it, I assume it could be the craftman's first name, at least it sounds like.

Steven
« Last Edit: October 10, 2012, 11:13:25 am by Steven » Report Spam   Logged

Lotus Flower
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« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2012, 11:05:47 am »

Ah Steven you beat me to it!

Could Guangyu be a surname?

I can't find anything either. Not in books or Chinese google. You will need someone with an extensive list of Yixing potters / shop marks. I'm sure there's someone you know Giovanni Smiley

From my understanding, the mark inside the lid is quite often a nickname of the potter, or his middle name or some other name associated with him. The mark on the base will normally give the full name. But in this case, there is obviously an impression of a bronze vessel. (something not very helpful in identifying the potter, or perhaps very helpful to someone who knows more than me!)

To my young eyes, there are so many other unusual things about this teapot (apart from that mark on the base). Normally I see either a single hole spout or a multi-hole filter. I think a 2 hole filter is quite unusual and doesn't help me with a date (again, to someone more knowledgeable it might be very helpful Smiley )

That all over blue enamel decoration is also quite rare I think (outside of snuff bottles). The only even slightly similar examples I can find online are here:

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19621/lot/251/
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20489/lot/536/

The clay looks good quality and is probably Zini (the purple variety of clay)

The joins where the handle and the spout join the body look immaculate (either the sign of very good finishing or the sign of it having been slip-cast).

The fact that you can't feel join marks inside the main body can also be a sign of very good finishing.

If it were my teapot I'd be quite excited by it, well, very excited actually Smiley

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Lotus Flower
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« Reply #19 on: October 10, 2012, 11:08:50 am »

Oh ye, I forgot. I wanted to share this beautiful video of a master craftsman at work:

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/handbuilding-techniques/poetry-in-motion-a-yixing-teapot-master-creates-an-exquisite-handbuilt-teapot/
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