Research Article
Chinese Yixing Purple Clay Teapots and British Red Stoneware
고려대학교
Published: March 2018 · No. 297 · pp. 205-233
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31065/ahak.297.297.201803.008
Full Text
Abstract
During the Georgian Period (1714-1830) in England, the social and cultural importance of tea consumption and the increasing demand for ceramics promoted the trade between England and China. Meanwhile, manufacturing techniques of ceramics within England rapidly developed so that English ceramics that suit the taste of English people could compete with Chinese porcelain exported to England. This cultural phenomenon is well illustrated in the conversation pieces which were popular in England during the period. Conversation pieces depicted an everyday domestic scene, illustrating a family or friends drinking tea together, rather focused on an individual figure like in formal portraits. As these group portraits usually present the objects that served as the subjects of the conversation among the figures in the paintings, they could be important visual evidence for studying the material culture of the period. This article examines the teawares in the conversation pieces to demonstrate the English taste in ceramic consumption, and the relationship between Chinese export porcelain and the techniques of porcelain production in England. While the production of porcelain began in England much later than in China because of the limitation of materials, the imitation of Chinese zisha teapot was carried out in England by the Elers Brothers in Staffordshire not so much later than when Yixing teapots began to be imported to England by East India Company in early eighteenth century. A frequent appearance of Chinese Zisha teapots with blue and white porcelains in the conversation piece suggests the popularity of red stoneware teapots among English people. It was fashionable and also excellent for black tea as it breathes and retains heat well. Also, the conversation pieces show that, the red stoneware teapots were as small as teacups in the beginning but gradually became bigger. They had various shapes including round, hexagonal, cylindrical shapes and a form of a tree trunk, which were inspired by forms in nature. The teapots were constructed with molding, stamping and applique decorative techniques. And especially the ones manufactured between 1740 and 1750 were molded to carry rich decorations all over the body.
