Bonhams 1793 : A small Yixing stoneware slip-painted teapot and two Yijun teapots and covers Qing dynasty

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27 May 2012 16:00 CST Hong Kong
Yixing stoneware and scholar's objects from private collections
Back to auction 20489

A small Yixing stoneware slip-painted teapot and two Yijun teapots and covers

Qing dynasty
Of rounded and cylindrical forms in miniature size, all set with simple loop handles and straight spouts, the exterior painted with white slip with bamboo and landscapes, one base incised with inscriptions and another impressed with a seal mark, together with a miniature teapot enamelled in lavender-blue glaze.
The largest: 7.4 long. (4).

Sold for HK$ 40,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

The seal mark on the base reads yigong jianzhi, or 'Made under the supervision of Yigong'. The inscriptions are translated as 'placing the moral purity to the beautiful teapot'. Another seal mark on the base reads caixia jianzhi, or 'Made under the supervision of Caixia'. The inscriptions are translated as 'turning red for ten li with apricot blossoms'. The inscriptions on both teapots were incised signatures reading Youzhu, an alternative name of the renowned scholar, Mei Diaoding (1839 - 1906), who was known for inscribing poets on teapots commissioned by prominent potters from Yixing.

Feng Caixia was a native of Yixing who was active around 1821 to 1850. Li Jingkang and Zhanghong recorded Feng as having spent time at Guangdong after she was invited by the Wu family, a wealthy Cantonese connoisseur, to make small-sized teapots, see ibid., Yangxian shahu tukao, A Pictorial Study of Yangxian Pottery Teapots, vol.1, pp.22-23.

清泥繪小壺三件、宜鈞天青釉小壺一件

「一片冰心在玉壺。友竹」、「逸公監製」
「一色杏花紅十里。友竹」、「彩霞監製」

四把小壺中，其中三把以白泥泥繪山水亭台，朱泥小壺上書「一片冰心在玉壺。友竹」行書款，壺底刻「逸公監製」草書款，紫泥小壺壺身書「一色杏花紅十里。友竹」，壺底鈐「彩霞監製」篆文方印；另一壺通身施天青釉，圈足足底露出朱泥胎骨。小壺小巧細緻，小巧玲瓏。

馮彩霞，清道光時宜興製壺高手，一說咸豐、光緒年間人，女，生卒不詳。明國李景康、張虹《陽羨砂壺圖考》中記載：「彩霞，道光時人，或雲姓馮，宜興名匠。南海伍氏，製萬松園壺，延之致粵。書法歐陽詢，所鐫款字，精謹有致，亦間用草書。所製壺有銜製、捏製之別，捏製壺則指紋腠理隱現，尤為奪目。蓋以方印為識，有『彩霞監製』四字陽文篆書。」馮彩霞說繼楊鳳年後又一女陶藝家，善製「功夫壺」，大如拳，小如蛋。友竹為清代書法家、陶藝家梅調鼎字號。