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Shape family Chinasources cited

Overhead-handle pot

tíliáng hú

Traditional 提樑壺

A tiliang teapot has a handle that rises from the body and spans the lid. The handle may form a rigid arch or swing on its attachments.

On this page
Tiliang teapot, side view
Tiliang teapot, side view
  1. 1Knob
  2. 2Lid
  3. 3Spout
  4. 4Handle
  5. 5Body
  6. 6Base
Side view of a round teapot with a handle arching over the lid.Approximate size

Form#

Knob
1small round bead (圓珠鈕), flattened cylinder (扁柱鈕), or low bridge finial (橋鈕) set beneath the arch of the beam
Lid
2inset lid (嵌蓋) or lipped lid (壓蓋) with sufficient clearance to lift out under the overhead handle
Spout
3curved one-bend or three-bend spout (一彎流 / 三彎流) projecting from the shoulder
Handle
4high overarching beam (提梁) spanning the body from front to rear shoulder — either a rigid clay arch (硬提梁: round, squared, or three-forked 三叉提梁) or flexible metal/rattan bails threaded through shoulder lugs (軟提梁)
Body
5globular, oblate, gourd-shaped, or short flat-bottomed cylinder (as in Gu Jingzhou's 1983 partridge pot)
Base
6ring foot (圈足), flat base (平底), or three small feet

4567 Numbers mark the parts described under Form.

Examples in the catalogues

Where does the handle meet the pot? On C81.494 an arch rises from the shoulders and clears the lid. The catalogue dates it to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. A six-sided pot in the Sihai catalogue shows a different arrangement: two projecting shoulder lugs, with the arch absent in the photograph.

The Art of the Yixing Potter (1990) · no. 27 · p. 144 / 吾壶四海 (2009) · p. 120

Working volume#

Use the volume to the intended fill level, rather than the exterior dimensions or shape name. Leave room for the leaves and lid, and choose cups or a serving pitcher that can receive a complete infusion. Two pots of the same named form may have very different working capacities.

Variants and sub-types#

Name中文DifferenceSources
Three-forked Overhead-handle (Dongpo / Sancha Tiliang)三叉提梁 / 东坡提梁Overhead beam split at the rear into twin fork legs and anchored at the front by a single post—often sculpted as gnarled pine, bamboo, or plum branches; the earliest dated Yixing teapot and Qu Ziye's 1837 Shitiao Tiliang follow this three-forked geometry.1378
Rigid Arch Overhead-handle (Ying Tiliang / Tibi)硬提梁 / 提璧壶Single continuous clay arch rising vertically from the front and rear shoulders; exemplified by early-Qing monumental pots by Shao Yuanxiang (K.S. Lo Cat. 29, H 21.1 cm) and Gu Jingzhou's 1956–1988 Tibi pot (提璧壶) designed with Professor Gao Zhuang.4568
Partridge Overhead-handle (Zhegu Tiliang)鹧鸪提梁壶Created by Gu Jingzhou in 1983 in Shanghai while accompanying his wife for medical treatment; pairs a low, flat-bottomed cylindrical body with a tall, flat-ribboned octagonal overhead handle arch.458
Soft-bail Overhead-handle (Ruaner Tiliang)软耳提梁壶Body fitted with a pair of upright clay shoulder lugs (双耳) through which a removable woven rattan, bamboo, or twisted metal bail handle is threaded after firing (as on Yangtong pots).368

Gu Yue shows a circular arch, a handle modeled as paired bamboo stems and another with a straight top and upright sides. Follow the space between lid and handle in each example. A Yangtong in the same book has a thin bail above its cylindrical body. Yangtong (2011, pp. 81–83, 124–125 · 2017, pp. 117)

History#

  1. Song (tradition)A popular Yixing legend credits the poet Su Shi (蘇軾, 1037–1101) with designing a large overhead-handle kettle for boiling tea at Shushan (蜀山), later known as the Dongpo Tiliang (東坡提梁壺).37
  2. 1533 (Ming, Jiajing 12)The earliest archaeologically dated Yixing zisha teapot is the three-forked overhead-handle pot (紫砂提梁壺, H 17.7 cm, mouth Ø 7.1 cm, base Ø 6.8 cm, Nanjing Museum) excavated in 1965 from the 1533 tomb of the eunuch official Wu Jing (吳經墓) outside Zhonghuamen, Nanjing.67
  3. Ming, Wanli eraZhou Gaoqi says Zhao Liang (赵梁), one of the four Wanli-era masters, made mostly overhead-handle forms (多提梁式), and lists an overhead-handle you (提梁卣, adapted from an archaic bronze wine vessel) among Xu Youquan's forms.1
  4. Qing, Kangxi to DaoguangMonumental early-Qing Tiliang pots by Shao Yuanxiang (邵元祥, K.S. Lo Cat. 29, H 21.1 × W 20.7 cm) and Xu Bojun (許伯俊, Cat. 37, H 30.9 × W 14.7 cm) are followed in the Jiaqing–Daoguang literati revival by Chen Mansheng and Yang Pengnian's Shitiao Tiliang (石銚提梁壺, Shanghai Museum, H 18.4 cm) and Qu Ziye and Shen Xi's 1837 Sancha Tiliang (三叉提梁壺).68
  5. 1956–1988Gu Jingzhou (顧景舟) collaborates with Central Academy of Craft Art professor Gao Zhuang on the Tibi pot (提璧壺, 1956), makes two Zhegu Tiliang (鹧鸪提梁壶, H 11.5–12.4 × W 13.5 cm) in Shanghai in 1983 while accompanying his wife Xu Yizhen during medical treatment, and designs the Yulu Tiliang (玉露提梁) with Han Meilin in 1988.48

Attributions are shown as the source states them.

Related#

Shapes

Lotus-seed pot

Mentioned in

Buying a teapot: checks you can do yourselfShi Dabin

Sources#

  1. 周高起《陽羨茗壺系》 (Ming, 1640s), Wikisource editionWikisource (public-domain text; revision oldid 2613092) · Primary texts · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  2. 周高起《阳羡茗壶系》(c. 1640), web transcriptionSimpleLits (public-domain text) · Reference works · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  3. 陽羨清韻：茶具文物館羅桂祥珍藏紫砂器 / Tea Ware from Yixing: Gems of Zisha Ware in the K.S. Lo Collection (exhibition pamphlet, May 2020)Hong Kong Museum of Art / Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, LCSD · Reference works · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  4. 天价“景舟壶”背后藏深情 (环球人物, 2016-01-06)环球人物 (Global People), People's Daily · Journalism and features · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  5. Gu JingzhouWikipedia · Reference works · Accessed 2026-11-02 ↗
  6. The Art of the Yixing Potter: The K.S. Lo Collection, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (茶具文物館羅桂祥珍藏宜興紫砂陶器, 1990)Urban Council, Hong Kong / Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (ISBN 962-215-096-9) · Museum catalogues and books
  7. Terese Tse Bartholomew, I-Hsing Ware (1977)China House Gallery / China Institute in America, New York (LoC 77-15141, 120 pp., with complete translation of Zhou Gaoqi's 陽羨茗壺系) · Museum catalogues and books
  8. 顧景舟主編《宜興紫砂珍賞》 / Appreciation of Yixing Zisha Ware (1992)三聯書店（香港） / Joint Publishing (HK) · Museum catalogues and books
  9. 古月编著：《紫砂壶图谱》湖南美术出版社 · 2011 · ISBN 978-7-5356-4241-7
  10. 刘行光、李志国：《紫砂》西南师范大学出版社 · 2017 · ISBN 978-7-5621-8276-4
  11. 吾壶四海 (2009)
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.