Thanks a lot kyarazen for adding a lot of useful information... let the shuiping cult begin, thenkyarazen wrote:very good question there are many possible answers and many whom know different versions of the answers, but as far as my research goes (which is still on going) here's a quick summaryhobin wrote:I'm not really versed in F1 shuiping... what's the difference between 6-and 4-character pots? (I suppose the 6-character ones are rarer, I usually see plenty of yixing zhongguo seals)
the 6 characters usually refer to 荆溪惠孟臣制,宜兴惠孟臣制 etc, where Jingxi = Old name for Yixing, Hui Meng Chen is the guy whom inspired the wave of small pots that many potters still make small pots in his name. these small pots were so instrumental in driving gongfu cha that there are old sayings.. pot must be mengchen, cup must be ruosheng.
The earliest 6 character appeared in Late Qing to ROC, i.e. 三点溪
then towards 30-50s Peng Gai Series there is 宜兴惠孟臣制,荆溪惠孟臣制(4脚),荆溪南孟臣制。
all these predated Factory 1, but when F1 was established in '58, some of these type of seals were incorporated into the factory work.
in the 58-60s, more variants of the 6 character sealed appeared, namely 大字溪,小字溪,川溪,along with the use of 4脚溪,南孟臣。these seals are rather prim and proper, neat, with cracks forming in them over usage, allowing people at later dates to quickly identify through these crack patterns, and supposedly to determine whether they are end 50s or mid 60s.
with the cultural revolution (66-76), and the need to distance themselves from historical/cultural elements, and to drive a more nationalistic idealogies, Zhong Guo Yixing in 4 character seal was coined to replace any mention of meng chen.
Taiwan was quite into Yixing pots then, due to their unfriendly connections with china then, there were mention of people grinding off the Zhong Guo Yixing seal at the base of the pot just to enable import, some were painted away.
After the CR, when relations became slightly more cordial, there was a reversion to 6 character seals which doesnt contain the Zhong Guo Word for easier import/exportation. Correspondingly, the green round stick with the "made in china" words on it was first issued around '77 up to '82, importers could decide whether to keep it or to remove it. During this era, there are also new 4 character seals created, i.e. if the author is Wang, the pot seal will be 荆溪王制 (Jing Xi, made by wang). Many of this style of 4 character seals are in taiwan. all these occured in parallel with the 4 character Zhong Guo Yixing stamp, and into the Fang Yuan label eras from '83 onward, makers started stamping their own names etc, and we can summarize here that in the 80s, seals are really diverse. But more interestingly the 6 character of the 80s is no longer in the prim and proper scripts of the 60s. they are rough, coarse, the dimensions are not as standardized, can be narrower, words are jagged.
Zhong Guo Yixing seals also has its own complications, a 6/4 seal seen in the 60s was seen re-used in end 70s, and said to be in some parts of 80s.
in the early 2000s, there was also a version of a re-carved 60s 4-leg seal, that was used on hong ni pots that were of a close clay quality of that of the 60s, xcept the firing was different. the person whom carved the seal is on face book and is actively involved in the recent publication on shuiping hu. he did leave some hidden flaw in the seal so that it can be easy to distinguish a pot of the re-carved seal vs an original 60s.
complicated no? but it will clear up really soon once you start playing.. reading, and discussing
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Yes, some modern potters, especially formerly involved in F1 or some students of well known masters who inherited clay, have some pretty decent materials and do totally fine for tea. Some of them seem also a bit above 民窑 in price range but F1 pots would add variety to a collection and it would be nice to have exemplars from different periods to see the historical changekyarazen wrote:oh.. no worries actually, modern pots do just as well for tea. it is just that in chinese porcelain, pottery or ceramic culture, there is a tendency to divide items simply into 2 classes, one is "官窑" guan yao - wares for officials/aristocrat/imperial/nobels, the other is "民窑" min yao - wares for the normal class like daily use items. in porcelain, there is a huge price gap between these classes.steanze wrote:My authentication skills are not good enough, so I have mostly modern pots for now I hope I'll manage to learn better skills to get some real F1 pots.
there is a drive to consider early era F1 pots as "guan yao" standard.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
The book, the book and teapot set!!! That's the only thing I wish were mine!!! But a great topic, nonetheless.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
I thought 4-leg Xi only has small version and big version,kyarazen wrote:this picture is cropped from the one posted by Bat Omega on FB, and reposted with his blessings
but instead of posting the answer straight, lets have some fun and guess work, which is the new seal and which is old? amongst these 3?
AT333 wrote: Nice summary. Are you referring to the 4-leg Shi seal? I though 4-legged Shi is only for pots of 1930-1950s. If I am wrong, and there is 1960s 4 legged Shi, can you share with us on the details of the hidden seal to distinguish early 2000 and 60s 4-leg seal. I guess I am as confused as many chatters here.
what you've posted all seems to belong to the small version (meaning the same seal), yes? no?
the small version four-leg was used during ROC~CR (many masters also used it), the big version (the one I've posted before) was used roughly during 50~early-60s. Correct me if wrong.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
you might be able to order it from a wushing distributor in the states?heliospace wrote:The book, the book and teapot set!!! That's the only thing I wish were mine!!! But a great topic, nonetheless.
its possibly to buy the book from Mr Lv directly, but the remittance fees and the postal costs (3kg/book?) may not be as economical as going through a distributor.
for the pot set it is also quite nice. 8 cup and 12 cup are made in the exact mold, person, seal of the 60s (using old stock yixing red clay), the firing they tried to push for the same type too but if i didnt remember wrongly they settled for dragon than the inverted kiln.
i see that you've the RF collections book too nice pots and especially the cups inside, but currently not my collection genre.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
are you referring to the dimension size or the characters big/small?chrl42 wrote: I thought 4-leg Xi only has small version and big version,
what you've posted all seems to belong to the small version (meaning the same seal), yes? no?
the small version four-leg was used during ROC~CR (many masters also used it), the big version (the one I've posted before) was used roughly during 50~early-60s. Correct me if wrong.
the 3 i had posted are the ones used in factory and remake. the centre one was recarved in 2000s, the left and right are old
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Another rare item... courtesy of James Yu, Taiwan
this is probably 30-40s Handmade shuiping, probably zhuni? the lid is handmade. Wood fired
this is probably 30-40s Handmade shuiping, probably zhuni? the lid is handmade. Wood fired
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Thanks for sharing kyarazen. Anymore nice pots to show?kyarazen wrote:are you referring to the dimension size or the characters big/small?chrl42 wrote: I thought 4-leg Xi only has small version and big version,
what you've posted all seems to belong to the small version (meaning the same seal), yes? no?
the small version four-leg was used during ROC~CR (many masters also used it), the big version (the one I've posted before) was used roughly during 50~early-60s. Correct me if wrong.
the 3 i had posted are the ones used in factory and remake. the centre one was recarved in 2000s, the left and right are old
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
there are! if you visit any of the facebook groups there are thousands of public images to see, but i'm just fishing out the interesting ones. together with the approval and blessings of each of the contributors contacted on a long term agreement for me to repost their pics here with credits and reference to them.AT333 wrote: Thanks for sharing kyarazen. Anymore nice pots to show?
anyway, just for fun.... here's some old news
10th anniversary "celebration" of one of the wushing publications, they attempted a production of qingyin in the 70s style.
F1 Red Clay, Same Mould, Same maker (Mei Yun), Same Seal, Similar Firing.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
glad you enjoyed them, cheers!Tead Off wrote:Good stuff, Kyarazen. I really enjoy seeing these.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Late Qing to ROC Flat Xi Shi Pot, made of Fu Ji special red clay that appeared during end qing to ROC. Images courtesy of yours truly.
This pot came in 2 models, one was a Flat Xi Shi, the other is a Flat Round (Bian Yuan). Hope to be able to locate and procure the Bian Yuan one day. Could only find 60s Bianyuan >.< (although these are rare too).
One of the early examples of Jing Xi Hui Meng Cheng in 6 character seal format, which was the basis of ROC, till Factory time 6 character formats.
This pot came in 2 models, one was a Flat Xi Shi, the other is a Flat Round (Bian Yuan). Hope to be able to locate and procure the Bian Yuan one day. Could only find 60s Bianyuan >.< (although these are rare too).
One of the early examples of Jing Xi Hui Meng Cheng in 6 character seal format, which was the basis of ROC, till Factory time 6 character formats.
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. A real masterpiece fit for a teamaster
Re: Not my F1 Yixing, Wished it Were!!
Kyarazen, is the flat bottomed pot marked with Fuji's stamp? Any lid mark?