Shi Dabin
Shi Dabin was a leading late Ming Yixing potter. Texts discuss his move toward smaller teapots, while excavated vessels bearing his name provide material evidence; a burial date, an inscription date and a maker attribution are not the same thing.
Names and aliases
Traditional 時大彬Also written 少山 Shaoshan (hao)
On this page
Documented work#
- Zhou Gaoqi writes that Shi Dabin worked either in fine levigated clay or in clay mixed with crushed fired-sand particles (碸砂 / 调砂), giving a pear-skin granular surface; his forms were austere, balanced, and structurally tight rather than ornate.1
- On base marks: Zhou states that Shi at first asked skilled calligraphers to brush characters on the leather-hard base and carved along their strokes with a bamboo knife, or used a seal, until he mastered the calligraphy of the Huang Ting Jing (黃庭經) and carved his own regular-script inscriptions ('大彬' or '時大彬製'). Zhou also notes that some pots signed '大彬' were made by his leading disciple Li Zhongfang and signed by Shi.1
Museum and excavated reference objects#
| Museum / Excavation | Reference object | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (茶具文物馆), Hong Kong | Square zisha teapot with recessed panels (紫砂开光方壶, Plate 99 in 1986 China Ancient Teaware Exhibition Catalogue; height 11.1 cm, width 15.7 cm, incised on the base '萬曆丁酉年時大彬製' [1597]) | 4 |
| Nanjing Museum (南京博物馆), Jiangsu | Overhead-handle round zisha teapot (大彬提梁壶), height 20.5 cm, mouth diameter 9.2 cm; flat-globular purple-clay body with a large circular overhead handle | 5 |
Active#
Late Ming; distinguish working period from dated burial contexts.
Lineage#
| Relation | Person | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| family: son | 時朋 Shi Peng, one of the four Wanli-era masters (四名家: 董翰、趙梁、元暢、時朋) | — | 1 |
| student: first among his disciples (高足第一) | 李仲芳 Li Zhongfang | — | 1 |
| student | 徐友泉 Xu Youquan | Zhou records that Xu's father invited Shi Dabin to the family studio and that Xu became his disciple after Shi praised a clay ox he modelled; late Ming potters ranked Shi Dabin, Li Zhongfang, and Xu Youquan together as the 'Three Greats among Potters' (壺家三大). | 1 |
| student | 歐正春 Ou Zhengchun; 邵文金 Shao Wenjin; 邵文銀 Shao Wenyin; 蔣伯荂 Jiang Boku; 陳俊卿 Chen Junqing | Named by Zhou Gaoqi as disciples trained in Shi Dabin's workshop. | 1 |
Evidence and interpretation#
Zhou Gaoqi records pots made by Li Zhongfang and signed by Shi Dabin. This is a concrete reason to separate the maker from the signatory. The previously listed tomb dates and owners have conflicting identifications; they are not used here as securely verified benchmarks without the original excavation reports. Source ↗
Sources#
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.