Yangtong

Form#

Knob

1central bridge bar between twin recessed ox-nostril openings (牛鼻孔中樑) on the Niugai (牛蓋) version, or an arched loop / bead knob on standard flat lids (平蓋洋桶)

Lid

2lipped or inset cylindrical cap lid, either pierced with twin elliptical ox-nostril holes (牛蓋) or domed with a single central finial

Spout

3tall, upright one-bend or two-bend curved spout (一彎流 / 二彎流) rising from the lower belly nearly to the level of the mouth rim

Handle

4traditionally a pair of upright semi-circular clay lugs on the shoulder (雙耳) fitted with twin curved metal wire or rattan bail handles (雙線軟提梁), or an ear-shaped side loop handle on side-handled variants

Body

5tall, straight-walled cylindrical barrel body (直筒身, modeled after imported foreign metal or porcelain canisters, 洋桶) with a crisply stepped shoulder

Base

6recessed ring foot (圈足) or stepped flat base

¹²³⁴ Numbers mark the parts described under Form.

Gu Yue illustrates a 牛盖洋桶壶 with a low lid and a slender bail above the cylindrical body. Yangtong names the pot form. Tiliang describes the overhead handle, a feature this pot shares with vessels of other shapes. Tiliang (2011, pp. 125)

Examples in the catalogues

Two cylindrical yangtong pots in the Sihai catalogue are both 14 cm high. One shows a movable handle resting against the body and the mark 春记 on lid and handle. Figures decorate the other. Its lid carries 宜兴上袁, while its base reads 利永公司出品, identifying a company. From the marks alone the individual potter remains unknown.

吾壶四海 (2009) · p. 80, 146

When a movable bail is attached to shoulder lugs, it can swing down beside the body for storage. The handle is still classed as an overhead handle by the position it takes when lifted.^{pp. 117–118}

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#

History#

1. late Qing (Guangxu–Xuantong)Yixing potters adapt the silhouette of imported cylindrical canisters (洋桶, 'foreign barrel') into a tall slab-built teapot exported in quantity to Thailand (where many were wheel-polished and mounted in gilt metal, as in Flagstaff House K.S. Lo Cat. 146, H 10.0 × W 8.8 cm, and Jingxi Zhuni Plate 221 錦堂發記款, H 13.5 × W 10.8 cm) and used across Jiangnan tea houses.¹²³
2. early Republic (1910s–1930s)Master potter Chu Ming (儲銘, 1881–1937), celebrated in Yixing as the 'King of Yangtong' (「洋桶王」), perfects the proportions of the ox-nostril lid Niugai Yangtong (牛蓋洋桶壺) and in 1933 teaches the form to the nineteen-year-old Gu Jingzhou (顧景舟).¹⁵
3. 1958At the Yixing Zisha Craft Factory, the straight-walled Niugai Yangtong serves as the foundational test piece for incoming apprentices: Gu Shaopei (顧紹培) recalls spending six days making a single Niugai Yangtong for his admission exam under Chen Fuyuan and Gu Jingzhou.⁴

Attributions are shown as the source states them.