How a maker changes a familiar teapot shape

Trace one wall of a Shipiao#

In a July 2005 interview, Xu Hantang discussed his approach to inherited forms. The accompanying photograph of his Shipiao shows a low lid with a bridge knob, a body that broadens towards the base, and small feet. First trace the sloping wall on the spout side. Then cover the handle and spout in the photograph. How much of the pot can you still recognize from the body and lid? ^{21, 35 (PDF 30, 44)}

Listen to the maker describe the curve#

Xu described the traditional Shipiao profile as parabolic and said that he used a double parabola in his version. Look again at where the shoulder starts to slope and where the body turns back above the feet. The change he named concerns the course of the wall. His interview supplies the design intention; the photograph lets a reader examine its effect. It gives no measured radii or drawing coordinates. ^{35–36 (PDF 44–45)}

Follow a groove across the lid#

A different design choice appears in two pots in Bartholomew’s catalogue. On the narcissus pot, six petal divisions continue from the body into the lid. On the neighbouring ribbed pot, sixteen segments divide the body and lid. Following one groove across the joint is easier than counting every rib at once. The six-petal and sixteen-rib counts belong to these individual pieces. ^{12–13 · 35–37 (PDF 37–39)}

Narcissus pot · B65P27 · Fluted pot · 58-13 A,B

Turn the lid over#

Xu Sihai publishes two views of a Hemei pot (合梅壶). With the lid seated, its outline continues the lobes around the mouth. With the underside turned towards the camera, a projecting lobed flange comes into view. Compare that flange with the opening it enters. The first view shows the maker’s visual alignment; the second shows how the two parts meet. ^{34–35 (PDF 60–61)}