Tea Pot

This buff colored stoneware teapot and cover is modeled as a bundle of cut bamboo stems with matching swan-neck spout and loop handle. The flat, inset cover is fashioned with a similar curved stem of bamboo with low relief leaves forming the knob. The buff stoneware is splashed with a russet colored slip to resemble spotted bamboo. Bamboo, a popular scholarly attribute, is a common motif in I-hsing ware, which was heavily marketed to literati taste. The naturalistic, unglazed colors and the realistic bamboo forms evoke a sense of the natural environment so revered by the scholar class.