Photographic teapot

Purple sand, simple and low-key, has effectively shaped the classics of world tea sets, but it has not been fully concerned by the world. Since17th century, teapots have been popular all over the world with China tea culture. Those teapots are like boats, carrying the fashion of drinking tea and sailing in the global trade network.

1 schematic diagram of global purple sand image. Production/ceramics museum, Ying Ge

Focusing on Zisha Roaming in Taiwan Province Province is different from many previous exhibitions that directly discuss Yixing Zisha. Based on the global history, it focuses on the purple sand images presented around the world in the past 400 years. Through the exhibits from Holland, Japan, Southeast Asia, Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan Province Province, this paper tells how the purple sand teapot in Yixing, Jiangsu Province went to the world with the fashion of drinking tea and became a model for teapots everywhere.

The Dutch National Museum borrowed exhibits to open the box. Photography/pornography

Zisha teapot originated in Yixing, Jiangsu, China, which not only became the protagonist of congou culture in Fujian and Guangdong, but also became an indispensable part of tea culture such as European tea drinking and Japanese fried tea. The exhibition also compares the consumption, tasting, imitation and transformation of teapot around the world. This paper shares the image of purple sand when the purple sand ship drifted to Europe, and re-evaluates the historical position of Yixing purple sand in the history of world ceramics and tea culture.

The Dutch National Museum borrows exhibits to check the scene. Photography/pornography

Variations of purple sand and red pottery

The most important exhibition of Yixing Zisha in the global historical background is that Yixing Zisha teapot exported to Europe in the16th century was preserved here, earlier than other regions; Moreover, the teapot introduced to Europe has various shapes and rich decorations, which are rare in other regions. These characteristics can be seen in European-style imitation teapots after17th century and European-style teapots after18th century, and the complicated western-style tea sets have been continued.

When you enter the exhibition hall, you will see this "wall of 100 pots". Designer/Hu

Zi Qi Donglai

The European 18 groups (pieces) in the exhibition are from the collection of the National Museum of the Netherlands, and they are all visiting Taiwan Province Province for the first time. "Zisha Donglai" mainly displays the purple sand sold in Europe from Yixing 17 to 18, including hanging beam pots, round-bellied pots, square pots, bionic natural pots, teapots, etc. The bionic natural pots include plum branch pots, gourd-shaped pots and melon-shaped pots.

Five pieces of purple sand collected by the Dutch National Museum are exported to Yixing. Photography/stone

The purple sand Haitang-style applique flat pot exhibited this time is very similar to a small purple sand pot now in the Vienna Museum of Art History at the end of 16. Whether it is the shape, size or leaf decoration of the pot bottom, it is similar. It is speculated that the two pieces may come from the same purple sand workshop.

6 Purple Sand Crabapple Flower-shaped Flat Pot, from the end of16th century to the beginning of17th century, was privately collected in Yixing, China and Taiwan Province Province. Image source/ceramics museum, Ying Ge

It is pointed out that Yixing may set up a special export workshop, referring to the contemporary Dehua kiln in Fujian and Jingdezhen kiln in Jiangxi, and using Yixing's unique purple sand mud to make applique decoration, large-size works that meet the aesthetic taste of foreign markets; Important patterns include baby playing patterns, dragon catching pearls and grape leaves. For example, a melon-shaped pot with hollowed-out money patterns and high circle feet in the National Museum of the Netherlands has a hyperbolic spout and a silver buckle along the edge. The spout, button and handle are all imitations of melon vines. The surface of the pot body is covered with big leaf patterns and fruit patterns. By means of applique, the mud is first filled into the mold for molding, then stirred up with tools and attached to the pot embryo. Squirrels hiding behind the pot cover are molded with molds, carved with details, and then glued to the pot cover with mud. Leaves alternate in size, veins are finely depicted, and clusters of fruits are dotted among them, which is full of symmetry. Careful observation shows that vines extend from branches, from thick to thin, and their winding and lingering image is quite vivid and natural. The lower part of the pot body is a high circle foot, and the pattern of carved copper coins shows the exquisite effect of hollowing out and carving.

7 purple sand applique squirrel grape grain melon pot, bottom 17, Yixing, China, in the National Museum of the Netherlands. Image source/Netherlands National Museum

Yixing exported European-style teapot, with three-dimensional ornamentation as its aesthetic feature, which uniquely explained the ornamentation that other export categories did not have at the same time, showing another vivid charm of Chinese style. After this pot was exported to Europe, it became a reference model for them to imitate and provided a design basis for emerging tea sets in Europe.

Brand overture

/kloc-the European still life painting "Dutch Family Drinking Tea" in the late 0/7th century shows the tea drinking scene of wealthy families in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Tea sets imported from all over Asia can be seen on the round table in the center of the picture. The pot in the man's hand is probably Yixing teapot. At that time, there was a great demand for purple clay pots, but the sales of Yixing purple clay pots were relatively small, which prompted local ceramic factories to imitate Yixing purple clay with red pottery and even create their own brands for domestic sales, laying the foundation for the firing technology, modeling and aesthetic experience of European porcelain factories in the18th century.

8 Dutch families drink tea. Asia in Amsterdam

Holland is the earliest place in Europe to imitate Yixing purple sand, among which Ari de Milde, a Dutch ceramist, has to be mentioned. As early as the second half of17th century, Mildred began to imitate the shape and decoration of Yixing purple sand, especially in the decoration part, which shows that he has a profound understanding of "plum pattern". At this time, Mildred pot has a trademark-oval "running fox" logo. In the future, this pottery factory will also produce octagonal tea trays. The plant patterns on the tray seem to follow the tradition of western ornamentation and become patterns of buttercups and grass rolls. It is conceivable that in the era of pursuing Chinese style, it is difficult to create such a handicraft with a strong European style. In addition, you can see a more formal trademark in the middle of the plate-teapot with crown. If you pay attention to the disk, there are five "running fox" signs hidden inside.

9 Pottery "De Mild" trademark Bafang tea tray, late 17- early 18, Delft, Netherlands, National Museum of the Netherlands. Image source/Netherlands National Museum

10 white porcelain painted flowerpot,1mid-8th century, in the National Museum of the Netherlands, Meissen, Germany. Image source/Netherlands National Museum

At that time, in the Netherlands, there were ceramic trade unions who burned pottery and imitated China's ceramic technology and immigrated to Europe. In Britain, there are the Elers brothers from the Netherlands, who brought the imitation teapot to another peak of European localization. The three British red pottery teapots on display, except the first one with the unique bionic natural characteristics of Yixing teapot, the other two have changed the local shape to some extent. For example, the taller one is probably made according to the shape of a European metal coffee pot, and the pattern on it adds rococo style, which shows that Britain has developed from imitating Yixing purple sand in the Netherlands to its own originality.

1 1 Peter Gerriets van Rastrom (1670-1699), still life painting.

12 Shao Tianqi, purple sand applique dragon beaded pot,18th century, Yixing, China, collected in the National Museum of the Netherlands. Image source/Netherlands National Museum

The practice and gradual change of European ceramics production has invisibly led to the deeper development of European ceramics and China style, resulting in their own unique sense of modeling and aesthetics. At such a node, can we say that imitating Yixing purple sand contributed to the birth of European local ceramic brands? This is really an interesting thing.

Luxury tea sets and decorations

The appearance of tea sets in Europe was later than that in China, and it was after1the mid-8th century that there were even more than 20 kinds of tea sets. In the images of the golden period of Dutch trade in the17th century, we can see the forms of tea sets from China, such as purple sand pear-shaped pots with metal chains, blue and white cups and plates and water bowls. The exhibition reproduces the combination of tea sets in still life paintings, especially the Yixing Dragon Pearl-catching Pot in the Dutch National Museum. The pot body, lid and buttons are all round, and the belly is decorated with dragon catching beads, with gold-plated ornaments and chains. Careful design, with "Shao Tianqi" at the bottom. However, it is rare to see teapot with the author's name in European collections.

13 handle cup with Chinese style figures,18th century, painting, private collection in Taiwan Province province. Image source/ceramics museum, Ying Ge

White porcelain, gold-inlaid sugar pots and stemless cups from Maison Porcelain Factory are also displayed next to it. The opening is painted with China people's tea drinking patterns, which is a collection of manuscripts designed according to the Chinese style of herold, a painter who began to live in Maison in 1720. This collection of design manuscripts has a great influence on the porcelain decoration of European kiln factories in the18th century. The double-sword cross symbol at the bottom of the trolley handle was adopted after Inspector Sensen suggested Augustus, the strong man, in 1722. Today, it is a world-famous porcelain trademark.

14 white porcelain flower pattern tea group (27 pieces),19th century, St. Petersburg, Russia, private collection in Taiwan Province Province. Image source/ceramics museum, Ying Ge

/kloc-In the middle of the 0/8th century, afternoon tea became popular in British aristocratic families, and complex tea sets came into being. Two sets of19th century western-style tea sets are on display this time. One set is a transfer printing painting tea set produced by St. Petersburg Porcelain Factory, and the other set is a customized China Guang Cai tea set in the American market. Europeans don't appreciate tea soup as China does. The Dutch took the lead in adding milk and sugar to black tea, so tea has milk jugs and sugar jars different from typical China tea sets. In addition, having a big package also shows the social etiquette of the owner. (Text/Jin Fangru Huang Xiezong Ru)

, Huang, Jin Fangru, Xie Zongru (in alphabetical order)

The picture shows ceramics museum, Ying Ge, New Taipei City, the National Museum of the Netherlands and the reference room of this magazine.

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