Xu Xuejuan (Art Name: Xuejuan) 徐雪娟（雪卷）
Celebrated Ceramic Artist of Jiangsu Province
Professor-level Senior Arts and Crafts Master
Member of China Ceramic Industrial Association
Member of China Arts and Crafts Society
Member of Jiangsu Provincial Ceramic Art Committee
Member of Jiangsu Provincial Arts and Crafts Society
Profile
Born in January 1961 in Yixing, the Pottery Capital, into a ceramic art family, Xu Xuejuan is the daughter of Xu Hantang, a Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. She is a Professor-level Senior Arts and Crafts Master and has worked in Xu Hantang Studio for more than 40 years. Influenced since childhood by zisha culture, her father’s teapot-making skills and aesthetic philosophy planted the seeds of ceramic art in her and laid a deep foundation for her later career as a leading contemporary zisha artist.
Biography and Career
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In the mid-1970s, she began her apprenticeship under her father at the Yixing Zisha Craft Factory Zisha Research Institute, studying clay formulation, form prototyping, and other basic processes.
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In July 1978, she entered the Yixing Zisha Craft Factory for strict, standardized three-year apprenticeship training. After completing it, she joined the Research Institute and followed her father in creative design for zisha ceramic art. In 1979, she formally joined the Zisha Research Institute and systematically studied Ming and Qing traditional forms, consolidating her skills in antique teapots and plain vessels.
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In June 1985, she followed her father to the Yixing No. 2 Zisha Craft Factory, helped found its Zisha Research Institute, engaged in design and creation, participated in the modern transformation of traditional craft, and trained a group of outstanding zisha artists.
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In September 1988, she was selected to study ceramic modeling and decorative design at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, now the Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design, integrating academic aesthetics into zisha creation.
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In August 1990, she held a solo exhibition in Hong Kong with Green Lotus Tea Set, which won the Silver Award, or Second Prize, at the 9th China Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Award.
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In May 2000, she went to Japan for ceramic art exchange. Old Vine Series won the Second Prize at the Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Industry Association Ceramic Art Appraisal.
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In March 2003, she was invited to the United States for a touring exhibition; works represented by Tian Fang Di Yuan Teapot attracted Western attention to Eastern philosophy.
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In 2005, her works were selected by the State Council as display pieces for Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai, gaining recognition from a national cultural hall.
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In 2016, she was elected a Celebrated Ceramic Artist of Jiangsu Province.
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She continues to deepen her work in level teapots, creating series such as Xuejuan Eighteen Styles and leading new trends in the collection market.
Artistic Characteristics of Her Duozhi Teapot
Shape Design
Xu’s duozhi teapot integrates the features of traditional level teapots and duozhi teapots. The body is upright with sloped shoulders, a pressed lid and round knob, a slightly raised curved spout, and a round handle. The overall form resembles a bell or hat, showing antique dignity, vigor, and elegance. She also boldly innovates on traditional forms: combining level and flat-belly styles, transforming the traditional shipiao into a square, elongated form with ice-crack decoration, and incorporating modern consciousness into traditional techniques, as seen in works such as Jade Belt Leather-Texture Teapot.
Proportion and Aesthetics
The knob, lid, and body echo one another in circular forms; the spout and handle are well proportioned; lines are soft and round. The whole is full, stable, dignified, and elegant.
Craftsmanship
She insists on traditional fully handmade techniques—beating clay slabs, enclosing the body, and splicing—so every step is completed by hand, giving the work human warmth and demonstrating refined zisha craftsmanship. She pays extreme attention to the proportion and coordination of spout, handle, knob, and body, ensuring harmony.
Clay Selection
She is highly particular about clay, often using original Zhu Ni, Ben Shan Lü Ni, Duan Ni, Hei Xing Tu, original purple clay, black clay, red clay, and other fine materials. Different clays give different textures and colors: original Zhu Ni is tender, delicate, and bright; Ben Shan Lü Ni is lustrous like jade; Duan Ni is antique and elegant. She is also skilled in sand mixing and sand paving. For example, her mixed-sand level flat-belly teapot has golden spots like stars, and her sand-paved Longdan teapot has a body like a starry sky, greatly enhancing playability and collection value.
Representative Works
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Green Lotus Tea Set
A classic flower ware tea set. With lotus as the theme, it integrates lotus leaves, flowers, and roots into the teapot’s shape and decoration, vividly presenting a lotus pond scene with exquisite craftsmanship and strong artistic appeal. -
Old Vine Series
Inspired by old vines, the body imitates twisted, winding vines with rich texture; details such as the handle and knob echo the theme, full of antique natural charm. Old Vine Teapot was selected for an international ceramic art biennale for its “zisha expression of Eastern naturalism.” -
Flat-Belly Crackle Shipiao
Based on the traditional shipiao, the triangular body is flattened, the three tripod feet and knob are enlarged, and unique crackle decoration creates natural, irregular textures. High-iron black clay is used, and the effect improves after brewing. -
Jade Belt Leather-Texture Teapot
It integrates modern consciousness into traditional technique. The body has three legs inspired by a round ding; leather texture is transplanted into the decoration; the body and lid are decorated with Chinese red leather, creating strong color contrast and a noble, elegant effect. -
Hantang Duozhi Teapot
Modeled after and developed from the improved work of her father Xu Hantang. It has a full shape, simple lines, and extraordinary bearing. Made with the factory’s classic Ben Shan Lü Ni, it is lustrous like jade and fully demonstrates the charm of zisha art.
Other works such as Waist-Oval Crackle Teapot, Flat-Belly Teapot, and Linglong Gongchun Teapot have been collected by Ziguangge, Nanjing Museum, and many other museums and art institutions at home and abroad. Her works are also in the collections of the National Museum of China, the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, and other institutions. Her artistic footprint spans Asia, Europe, and America, making her a cultural calling card for Yixing zisha going global.
Research and Inheritance
She has systematically studied the historical context, craft evolution, and appreciation standards of the level teapot, a classic Ming-Qing export zisha form, and published several research papers. By examining the technical inheritance from Qing “Mengchen teapots” to contemporary level teapots, she proposed the creative idea of “coexistence of practical function and artistic aesthetics,” promoting the field’s upgrade from experience-based transmission to academic research.
As an important inheritor of the Xu Hantang art system, she participated in founding Xu Hantang Studio and established a composite teaching model of “apprenticeship + academic training.” She has trained dozens of zisha art inheritors and formed a creative group combining traditional foundations with innovative thinking.
Social Roles and Evaluation
She served as an executive member of the 8th Jiangsu Provincial Women’s Congress and has played an influential role in promoting the professional development of women ceramic artists. As a Celebrated Ceramic Artist of Jiangsu Province, she has served multiple times as an industry review expert, contributing professional strength to the standardized inheritance of zisha craft.
In the zisha art world, Xu Xuejuan is praised as a “practitioner of inheritance and innovation”—neither a conservative who merely imitates the ancients nor a radical who abandons tradition. The China Arts and Crafts Society commented that her works “show traditional sinew between square and round, and reveal contemporary spirit beyond curves and straightness,” aptly summarizing her unique value in zisha inheritance. From an apprentice at the Yixing Zisha Craft Factory to a creator for Ziguangge in Zhongnanhai, she has proved through forty years that true artistic innovation is always rooted in the fertile soil of cultural tradition.
