Lü Yaochen
Follow the rounded body, raised lid and small knob of the Duoqiu pot illustrated under Lü Yaochen’s name. A familiar Yixing form becomes a way into his work: how do the spout, handle and ornament change the whole vessel?
On this page
A familiar form, reconsidered#
The interview volume illustrates his 掇球壶, Duoqiu pot, on printed p. 86 / PDF p. 95. Its smooth body makes the junctions with spout and handle easy to notice. The next page illustrates a separately named 容天壶, Rongtian pot; these are different examples, not two views of one vessel. The captions supply no dimensions or manufacture dates. The illustrated pots
In the interview, Lü describes moving from imitation of an inherited Duoqiu form towards an interpretation of his own. He presents inheritance as something requiring personal judgment. That account gives the photographs a useful question: what has the maker chosen to emphasize?
Proportion and the hand#
On printed p. 87 / PDF p. 96, Lü discusses the balance of body, spout and handle without prescribing a fixed formula. Read their reach, thickness and direction together rather than isolating the body as the only important shape. This is his account of design, not a set of measured ideal proportions. Proportion in the interview
The 四方段壶 photograph on printed p. 89 / PDF p. 98 offers another approach, with a squared body and bamboo-like details. In the text continuing onto printed p. 90 / PDF p. 99, Lü connects restrained ornament with the experience of touching a pot. He also recalls the influence of Wu Yungen and Zhu Kexin on his bamboo-section work. Keep those statements as his recorded preferences and recollections, not universal tests of comfort or authorship.
A named museum object#
Wuxi Museum assigns 贵妃出浴, “Imperial Consort Emerging from the Bath”, to Lü. Its linked photograph shows a pale, rounded body divided by a central groove, a loop handle and a contrasting knob. The visible colour does not identify a clay recipe, and the view shows neither the underside nor the interior. Museum object and photograph
A museum notice records the donation of a work with this title on 2010-04-13. That is a collecting date, not a manufacture date. The notice and collection page share maker, title and institution, but provide no common accession to establish the specimen’s identity independently. Acquisition notice
What each source contributes#
The photographs let us examine particular outlines; the interview explains how Lü discussed his choices; the museum records an attribution and an acquisition. None supplies a seal placement or a general way to authenticate another pot.
Return to the smooth Duoqiu and the modelled details of the squared pot. The useful comparison is how much the outline and ornament ask of the eye and hand—not whether one degree of decoration is correct for every teapot.
Sources#
- 贺云翱主编，《紫砂大师访谈录》，文物出版社，2008，ISBN 978-7-5010-2324-0
- 无锡博物院：现代吕尧臣制贵妃出浴紫砂壶
- 谈菁，“吕氏绞泥”精品落户无锡博物院，《无锡文博》2010年第2期（总87期）
Status and editorial notes sources cited
Sources are listed below. Their presence does not certify every claim; source-specific interpretations and unresolved questions are identified in the text. This page has not received independent expert approval.