Xu Youquan
Xu Youquan 徐友泉 (given name Shiheng 士衡, courtesy name Youquan 友泉) was a celebrated master of Yixing zisha (purple clay) teapots active during the Wanli reign (1573–1620) of the Ming dynasty. Though he was not born into a pottery family, his father was a close friend of the renowned teapot master Shi Dabin 时大彬, and Xu thus became Shi Dabin’s apprentice from an early age, displaying an outstanding talent for sculptural art. Xu Youquan’s contributions to zisha art can be summarised as follows:
Innovation in clay colours
He was highly skilled in blending clays and created a rich palette of novel colours, including crabapple red 海棠红 , cinnabar purple朱砂紫, Ding-ware white 定窑白, cool golden yellow 冷金黄 , light ink 淡墨, aloeswood 沉香, aqua green 水碧, pomegranate skin 榴皮, sunflower yellow 葵黄 , iridescent, and pear-skin. These greatly enriched the colouristic range of zisha ware, moving it from a single tone towards a splendid variety of hues.
Diversity of forms
Xu Youquan drew his inspiration from Shang and Zhou bronze vessels 商周青铜器 and from the natural world. His works encompassed shapes based on ancient bronzes (such as ding-tripods, lei-jars, zun-vessels, etc.), as well as fruit, melon and animal forms, displaying inexhaustible variety. Representative forms include the Xishi teapot, the Han-square teapot, the water-caltrop-flower teapot and the beauty’s shoulder teapot. He pioneered the “floral” (biomorphic or naturalistic) style of zisha teapots, greatly expanding the boundaries of zisha art.
Exquisite craftsmanship
His handiwork was extremely fine, and he particularly excelled in making teapots in the style of ancient bronzes. The fit between the lid and the mouth of his pots was so precise that it achieved an “airtight” standard, demonstrating the highest level of technical mastery.
Artistic acclaim
The Ming-dynasty writer Wu Meiding, in his Ode to Yangxian Teapots (Yangxian minghu Xi) 《阳羡茗壶系》, praised Xu Youquan in the highest terms: “Synthesising the ancient and the modern in perfect measure, giving free rein to transformations as the heart desires – when skill approaches the Dao, is that not our Xu Youquan!” This comment recognises that his works seamlessly blended past and present norms, and that his ever-changing technique transcended mere craft to attain the state where “art becomes the Way.”
Xu Youquan, together with Shi Dabin 时大彬 and Li Zhongfang 李仲芳, were known as the “Three Great Masters” among teapot makers, and together they laid the foundation for Ming-dynasty zisha art. His works not only embody the continuation of traditional craftsmanship but also, through a spirit of innovation and consummate skill, infused the development of zisha art with fresh vitality.
