Pear-shape teapot

Of buff color clay, the pear-shape teapot bears an interesting array of stamps and inscriptions. Inside the lid is “shuiping”, impressed with a wooden stamp. The name, “Caixia,” is incised on the lip of the lid. On the base of the handle is the oval seal of “Chang Ji” in raised regular script, a typical shop name. Under the base are seven characters in regular script, cut precisely with a steel knife: “One ladle of water, Mengchen.”

Feng Caixia was an outstanding woman potter of the 19th century. According to Li Jingkang and Zhang Hong, Feng Caixia was active during the Daoguang period of the Qing dynasty (1821–1850). At the invitation of Wu Yuanhua of Guangzhou, she went there for a time and made small teapots for him. Small teapots for drinking gongfu tea seem to be Feng Caixia’s specialty. Her teapots could be as big as a fist, or as small as a chicken egg. The shape of this teapot is typical of the ones associated with Feng Caixia. Extant teapots are in three shades of clay, cinnabar red, beige, and dark brown zisha. Some teapots are inscribed, like this example, and others are stamped. The inscriptions show a number of different hands, and slight variations are found in the potter seals.