Famous Zi Sha Makers in the Ming & Qing Dynasty
Famous Zi Sha Makers in the Ming Dynasty
The Jinsha Monk
Nobody knows his name, we only know he was a monk lived in the Jinsha Temple in the Zhengde Era in Yixing city. He was the first people who refined the Zi Sha clay and made a tea pot with the special purple sand. However, he never put his name or stamp on his tea pots, nor were they described by the later tea books. Therefore even if we see his products today we still cannot distinguish them.
Gong Chun
Gong Chun was a servant of Wu Yishan, a scholar in the city of Yixing. Wu rented a room in the Jinsha Temple and read book there. Gong Chun visited the Jinsha Monk when he was not on duty and learned the Jinsha Monk's skills. He made some tea pot resembling tea trunks and became welcome by the current
people.
Shi Dabin
Son of another famous tea pot maker Shi Peng. He was specialized at refining the clay, molding and carving. Many people think he was equal to another Zi Sha master Gong Chun. His tea pot resembled many daily utilities such as plum blossoms, hexagon, octagon, handle bar, stamp, hat and persimmons.
Shi Peng
Father of Shi Dabin, his tea pots were all simple and plain.
Li Zhongfang
Apprentice of Shi Dabin, son of another tea pot maker Li Yangxin. His tea pots were very exquisite and artistic. Many of his tea pots had Shi Dabin's name carved on them. Therefore it is difficult to recognize his products from Shi Dabin's.
Hui Mengchen
Another great Zi Sha master after Shi Dabin. His big tea pots were plain and small ones were exquisite. He used bamboo knives to carve his name on the tea pots. He was famous of carving small stamps inside the lids.
Famous Zi Sha Makers in the Qing Dynasty
Chen Mingyuan
Chen Mingyuan was the famous Zisha Master in the Kangxi Era of the Qing Dynasty. He was skilled as carving on the tea pots. His carving style was close to those artists in the Jin and Tang Dynasties. His tea pots were very welcome by the scholars and high government officers.
Yang Pengnian
Yang Pengnian's tea pots were exquisite and never used a mold. His inspiration came from the nature world. The tea pots that he cooperated with the famous artist Chen Mansheng were called "Mansheng Pot". The Mansheng Pots combined the Zisha technology and art and created a new style of Zisha Making.
Yang Fengnian
Yang Fengnian is the younger sister of Yang Pengnian. She was the most famous female Zisha maker in the history. She used the valuable Skyblue clay therefore there was a bluish color on her Zisha pots.
Shao Daheng
Shao Daheng used the imitation of the antiques on his tea pots but also had many new ideas. His tea pots were rather plain and simple than exquisite but also very elegant. His tea pots were very valuable even in his own time. He was also famous for his upright and faithful personality. He used to be tortured by the local governor for his service but he never gave in.
Zhu Shimei
Zhu Shimei was an artist good at painting. His tea pots combine the art and technology.
http://tea.timzhao.com/ctcom/teapot/minzi.html
