Hexagonal teapot

Object Details

• Artist

  Chen Hanwen (active mid-18th century)

• Description

  Hexagonal teapot of ruddy brown unglazed Yixing clay; relief decorations of flower motifs, a landscape and a poem. One seal.

• Marks

  One seal

• Inscriptions

  Poem

• Label

  After the Qianlong emperor (reigned 1736-1795) visited Dragon Well, an area in southern China famous for its tea, he commissioned this teapot from a well-known Yixing potter. The poem on the pot was composed by the emperor and describes a storm he encountered on his way to Dragon Well. The calligraphy displays the rounded stroked characteristic of archaic seal script, which Qianlong, who favored antiquarianism, esteemed; the writing and the landscape design on the opposite side are built up in relief with slip (liquid clay). The calligraphy is positioned on the side of the pot that would face the emperor as he poured from it. Its placement demonstrates the regard for calligraphy as the foremost visual art, more important that pictorial imagery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 13, 1944)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

• Origin

  Yixing, Jiangsu province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1930s, 1730s

• Name

  Chen, Hanwen

• Place

  Jiangsu province, Yixing, China

• Topic

  Art, Calligraphy, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Slip, Ceramics, Flowers, Tea, Landscapes, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Seal script, Poetry, Yixing ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)