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- functionaries who were often scholars, poets, painters, calligraphers, connois�seurs, collectors and aesthetic-minded individuals. These men of letters tried to equate moral character with sophisticated or informed artistic tastes. They often had their own studio or garden where they could retreat from the political world and indulge in academic and artistic pursuits, surrounding themselves with tasteful art and partaking in cultural activities such as the drinking of fine teas. They took great pride in having their teapots made to order.
A number of Yixing teapots have been excavated from the tombs of important personages in Ming China. These finds have provided us not only with additional research material but, more importantly, they reveal the high regard in which these simple brown teapots were held by their owners, in that they were trea�sured to such a degree that they warranted inclusion as grave goods for the individual�s use in the afterlife.
Yixing stoneware teapots were thought to keep the tea warm longer than porcelain ones and were said to be the best for bringing out and retaining the colour, bouquet, and flavour of the choicest teas. Yixing teapots were only rinsed and never washed. Therefore, most old teapots have a layer of patina reflecting its years of use. Some literati commissioned Yixing potters to make teapots for them embellished with a calligraphic inscription or a painting, and these pieces had the name of the potter or the scholar�s studio impressed on them. This intimate relationship between a type of ceramic ware and the literati class, whose social status was far removed from that of the potter is a unique phenomenon in Chinese art history. Perhaps because of this close collaboration with the literati and the fact that their products were considered objet d�art, the Yixing potter felt his status was elevated beyond that of a mere craftsman of utilitarian ware, so that he could sign his pieces just like a painter. The placement of their names on ceramics was also quite unique as only a few other types of ceramics in China had signatures. Many of their pieces commanded high prices in their lifetimes.
Yixing ware teapots were among the first teapots to arrive in Europe in the seventeenth century with tea shipments. The market for Yixing teapots expanded so rapidly that European ceramic factories in Holland, Germany and England began to produce imitations to meet the domestic demand. Most notable of these copyists were Lambertus Cleffins and Ary de Milde in Holland; Johann B�ttger in Meissen, Germany; and the Elers brothers in Staffordshire, England. Yixing wares were also exported to Japan where they were cleverly copied by the Tokoname and Banko potters (see Appendix II).
Copies of Yixing ware were also made within China in Shanxi province and at Qinzhou in Guangxi province (No. 63). The clay used to make Qinzhou ware was less sandy and more dense than the clays of Yixing.
The Kilns of Yixing County
Yixing county, once known as Yangxian, is located near the west bank of Lake Taihu in Jiangsu province not far from the three major centres of Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai in the traditionally prosperous area known as Jiangnan. Yixing became one of the most important ceramic centres in China due to its fortunate location near large supplies of suitable clays and because it was located near a water system with connecting rivers and canals, which allowed for easy transport and distribution of finished products to nearby centres.
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