Qian Xiangfen
Qian Xiangfen is a contemporary Yixing Zisha artist whose work is distinguished by graceful forms, natural inspiration, and a refined feminine sensibility. Born in 1963 in Dingshan, Yixing, she began learning teapot-making in 1977 after graduating from junior high school and was apprenticed to Cao Yalin, a Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. Over the decades, she has continued to develop her craft through formal study and advanced training, becoming a respected figure in the contemporary teapot art world.
Professional Titles and Recognition
Qian Xiangfen holds a range of professional titles and honors, including:
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Jiangsu Provincial Ceramic Art Celebrity (Third Session, 2023)
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Senior Craft Artist (Full Professor Level)
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Senior Rural Revitalization Artisan (Full Professor Level)
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First-Class / Senior Technician
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Member, China Ceramics Industrial Association
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Member, China Arts and Crafts Society
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Recognized as one of China’s most collectible contemporary ceramic artists
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Standing Director, China Zisha Culture Research Institute
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Director, Zisha Culture Research Committee, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce
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Member, Jiangsu Ceramic Industry Association
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Visiting Professor, Ceramic and Glass Culture Research Institute, Qilu University of Technology
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Distinguished Professor, School of Fine Arts, Nanjing Normal University
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Yixing “March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter”
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Wuxi “May 1st Innovation Pacemaker”
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Recipient, Wuxi “May 1st Labor Medal”
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Representative Inheritor of an Intangible Cultural Heritage Project
Education and Training
Qian Xiangfen has combined hands-on practice with ongoing academic and professional development. In 2016, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Art Design from China University of Geosciences. In 2017, she completed the Advanced Seminar in Humanities and Ceramic Art at Tsinghua University. In 2018, she traveled to the United Kingdom to participate in an advanced Zisha art program at the University of London and the University of Cambridge.
She is also the founder of the Yixing Yijuan Zisha Art Research Institute.
Artistic Style
Qian Xiangfen specializes in flower-form teapots and figurative teapots. She draws heavily on natural themes, distilling concrete images from the natural world into a typical artistic language that rises above mere imitation. Her works reflect a female artist’s delicate observation and sensitivity to life, presenting a distinctive presence through elegant shapes and strong visual appeal.
Her artistic style can be described as simple but not simplistic, disciplined but not rigid, ordinary yet refined, and steady with a subtle sense of soft beauty. These qualities have established her as a powerful and accomplished artist in the contemporary teapot art field.
Qian Xiangfen’s teapot work Golden Ox Brings Auspiciousness draws on the zodiac theme of the golden ox, with the artist transforming the ox’s head into the spout and the ox’s tail into a curled handle.
