Mysterious Yixing Tea-Set

[Alexander]

TienMei Case and ContentsLR.jpg (20.86 KiB) Viewed 811 times

Art Deco meets Yixing clay in the Republic of China

I have a Yixing tea-set that I would like to learn more about. I believe it is a unique set, but I am not certain of that. I know a little of its history, that this tea-set was taken to the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentenial Exposition, where it was awarded the Silver Medal. The Gold was won by Cheng Shou Zhen (1957-1939) with a traditional teapot (as far as I know). This set was then brought to the Yixing Ceramics Museum in Jiangsu Province on July 1, 1927, where it remained until sometime in 1982 or 1983. The information above was on a little sign on the tea-set in that museum, and was confirmed by the museum curator in the early Eighties. The set artfully represents the cultural diffusion of European Art Deco forms to China, and their union with Chinese materials, craftsmanship, and design motifs -- all just before the Guomintang-Communist turmoil that intensified in the Shanghai region around 1927.

The tea-set's presentation box has an inscription (very roughly translated):

Introduction to Beautiful Sword Tea Set (Tien Mei Tsa Chu)

Made by Liu Chien Pin

The philosophy of making this tea-set has existed for centuries. After years of trial and error, the person who created this set found a method to fuse three colors of clay -- black, earth-red, and yellow.

The unique learning of masters has combined an ancient Chinese design motif, techniques of making, and unique modern sculpted form. Because of uniqueness of its design and making, its use will bring different meaning to the flavors from the three kinds of clay.

The set consists of the fitted presentation box, the teapot itself (approximately 600 ml in volume) with fitted lid with breathe-hole, four cups, and four saucers, all in dark brown burnished clay. The design form is is basically a rounded diamond cross-section, with an inlaid band of red and yellow clays in an intersecting diamond pattern at the top of the the teapot and the bottom of the cups. The workmanship is beyond first-rate throughout. All components are stamped on the bottom with a four-character chop (Tien Mei Tsa Chu). The tea-set is unused.

Tien Mei Teapot and CupLR.jpg (9.88 KiB) Viewed 811 times

I have higher-resolution and more-detailed photos for those who wish.

I am trying to find a person who will be able to help me learn more about this tea-set (is it one-of-a-kind?) and its maker (where and when did he work, what other accomplishments did he have, ...), or direct me to a person who can.

I am also interested in the market for such a tea-set. What might it be worth to a collector, and how might I reach potential purchasers?

Thanks,
Alexander

[TIM]

I think this is for coffee, rather then tea? I might be wrong....

IMO If this article is the original set which when to 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentenial Exposition, and won a 2nd Medal. It could worth starting around 15k and up. But if it's on the market and could be brought under a thousand, I would not border about the authenticity but just as a personal collectable.

Please ask our own Chen here at Teachat, whom she is the grand child of Cheng Shou Zhen to take a look at your photos.


Another 60s coffee set resided in Yixing Ceramics Museum, Jiangsu. Estimate Worth close to a million RMB.

[chrl42]

First off, ShouZhen ZhuiQiu won Gold Medal at Panama international exhibition at 1915, not Philadelphia. And then it won in Chicago in 1932.

Second off, Liu Jian Ping (I guess), High-level Crafts-and-Arts Master, was born in 1957, plus that doesn't look like any of his works I've seen before.

That'd rater looks like some of Lu Yao Chen's Jiao Ni works, who was one of Liu's masters, only that obviously not Jiao Ni..



But I don't know too well...

[finddream2020]

frist, my grand grand father's ShouZhen duo qiu won Gold Medal at Panama international exhibition at 1915, not Philadelphia.

sencond, i ask my father, in that time, the same person which is in the same company with my grand grand father won the Philadelphia silver metal but he can not remeber the name, but he think it is not liu chun ping, because in that time, there are some famous artists in that time like cheng shouzhen、fan dasheng、feng guilin、fan chengfu、zhu kexin、ye dexi. and he never know liu chunping.

can you send me the pic of the centificate and the seal on the teapot?