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Iconographic Meaning

The lotus is a Buddhist symbol of purity and perfection.

Specific Techniques

The sandy clay, varying in shade from light yellow-brown through the best known red-brown to a dark brown-black, has the property of producing a hard lustrous surface when fired, and can therefore be used without glazing.

Description

Brown teapot (part a) and lid (part b). In a compressed globular form in the shape of two lotus pads with incised veining, joined at the edges in a waving line. Short spout in form of stem, opposite handle also shaped as stem. Lid flush with surface of pot has a handle formed with adjoining decoration of lotus pads in high relief, flower in low relief. The is a circular impression on the base with seven small holes. There is an impressed mark in seal characters on inner surface.

History Of Use

The potteries producing I-Hsing Ware have been active for thousands of years, although use of the distinctive clay types peculiar to I-Hsing itself may date only to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, 1368 C.E. Production has continued to the present time and includes glazed ware, particularly in a brilliant streaked blue-green, as well as the traditional form. The shapes of teapots can be classified in three main groups: those borrowed from archaic bronzes; those borrowed from nature; and those which are geometric. The circular impression with holes on the base suggest the entire teapot would sit in the hot water.