Swirling hibiscus teapot

This beautiful teapot of compressed globular form is made of two sections, each resembling a hibiscus in full bloom with five overlapping petals swirling rhythmically. Smaller hibiscus with sepals are modeled on the base and the cover but with somewhat different treatment; the former in a subdued manner, the latter in high relief. The cover knob, as well as the handle, both replicate a peduncle with leaves and bud. Two characters “Dabin,” in regular script are engraved on the body below the handle.

Unearthed from the tomb of Hua Shiyi, dated 1629, in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, the Shi Dabin tripod teapot also has two characters, “Dabin,” engraved in regular script on the same spot. The Japanese Oku Saburobei (1836–1897) indexes a swirling hibiscus teapot of Xu Longwen entitled “the best heart-to-heart companion” with a round seal marked, “Jingxi,” and a square seal marked, “Longwen” Xu Longwen lived in the late Ming and early Qing; however, this method of sealing a teapot did not exist in the late Ming but rather in the 18th century and later.

The spout, originally shaped as a piece of rolled-up leaf, was broken, and has been replaced with a pewter spout. On it is an engraved inscription in regular script reading: “Deeply penetrating the heart, Shimei.” Shimei was a given name of Zhu Jian (c. 1790–after 1857), the presumed maker of the pewter spout.