Yixing tea pot,Gujingzhou tea pot,The master

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Bok
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:54 am

What clay is that? Can not tell for sure due too much sun exposure. Hongni?
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steanze
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:45 am

+1 it's quite hard to tell... based on the underside of the lid, I'd say some type of qingshuini... but Gu Jingzhou did not put arabic numerals under the lid as far as I know. You start seeing those kinds of numerals in Factory 1 pots from the 1980s.
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:19 pm

helotea wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:05 pm
steanze wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:45 am
+1 it's quite hard to tell... based on the underside of the lid, I'd say some type of qingshuini... but Gu Jingzhou did not put arabic numerals under the lid as far as I know. You start seeing those kinds of numerals in Factory 1 pots from the 1980s.
....but Gu jingzhou did not..........Sorry, I just do not know why you have this conclusion. He started to made tea pot around 1930, till 1996 . You saw all of tea pots he made? If yes, can you tell me how many tea pots he has made all of his life?
If the answer is "No", and "you do not know, "

how come you have this conclusion?

You saw ten of his tea pots then you have a conclusion?

Why?

Can you explain this further for me?Please.

Thank you.
You might be better served by only asking the opinions of people that you know will confirm what you want to believe.
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LeoFox
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 5:27 pm

helotea wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:05 pm
steanze wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:45 am
+1 it's quite hard to tell... based on the underside of the lid, I'd say some type of qingshuini... but Gu Jingzhou did not put arabic numerals under the lid as far as I know. You start seeing those kinds of numerals in Factory 1 pots from the 1980s.
....but Gu jingzhou did not..........Sorry, I just do not know why you have this conclusion. He started to made tea pot around 1930, till 1996 . You saw all of tea pots he made? If yes, can you tell me how many tea pots he has made all of his life?
If the answer is "No", and "you do not know, "

how come you have this conclusion?

You saw ten of his tea pots then you have a conclusion?

Why?

Can you explain this further for me?Please.

Thank you.
That teapot looks bad. Hope you didnt pay too much.
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Bok
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 6:31 pm

If you look at confirmed examples of Gu’s work it seems very unlikely he made this pot. His work has an elegance and subtle use of curves and details that yours just doesn’t show. His Shuiping and other shapes are sublime and clearly stand out among the rest.

Does this pot look like the work of a master? I don’t think so.

Style wise it looks more like an attempted 60s but with the wrong chops.
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Bok
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 6:57 pm

For example: take this seal, do know who it is often attributed to? But alas, the pot in question is not made by that potter. My point being that just because a seal used by Gu is on a pot, is not the defining mark of authenticity, workmanship is the more important factor.
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Bok
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 9:48 pm

Scroll down to see how Gujingzhou Biaozhun Shuiping looks like and compare...
https://read01.com/mE6jRKg.html#.Yb_7lSwRUW8

I am not a fan of GTH, but the article on Gu in this issue http://archive.globalteahut.org/docs/issues/2019-08.pdf is not bad. Although the examples shown are mostly the more fancy designs. Anyways, nice read. But beware it is written by foreigners in Taiwan, so they know nothing! :lol:
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steanze
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:13 pm

helotea wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:05 pm


....but Gu jingzhou did not..........Sorry, I just do not know why you have this conclusion. He started to made tea pot around 1930, till 1996 . You saw all of tea pots he made? If yes, can you tell me how many tea pots he has made all of his life?
If the answer is "No", and "you do not know, "

how come you have this conclusion?

You saw ten of his tea pots then you have a conclusion?

Why?

Can you explain this further for me?Please.

Thank you.
I am sorry if I hurt your sensibility, I hope the following information is helpful to explain a bit my reasoning. To add to the good observations by @Bok, Gu Jingzhou used that base seal during ROC, and you can see that the small seal under the handle is typical of late Qing to early ROC workshops. A teapot made by Gu in the 1980s would not have that base seal nor that seal under the handle (it would have different seals). Furthermore, it would be unusual for Gu to make a small shuiping in the 1980s, he would be more likely to make different shapes in that period.

More importantly, as @Bok said, shuiping teapots made by Gu Jingzhou have a very specific style, that is also shared by Wang Yinchun, and by perhaps a few of their students in the early ROC. They have very refined details, for example, they would have thin and elegantly fitting lid lips, like the one shared by @Bok or like this one:
DSC_0261_small.JPG
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The shuiping in your picture does not match the style in several important details.
Last edited by steanze on Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Andrew S
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:19 pm

@steanze: thank you for sharing that photo.

Andrew
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steanze
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:21 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:19 pm
steanze: thank you for sharing that photo.

Andrew
you are welcome (this one is not by Gu by the way, it does not have a seal that reports a specific maker name, my guess is that it might be by a student of Wang or by Wang).
Andrew S
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:24 pm

I thought that I recognised it from your blog, but perhaps I am mistaken.

Andrew
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steanze
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 pm

Ah, possible! For reference the lid skirt is like this:
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:44 pm

steanze wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 pm
Ah, possible! For reference the lid skirt is like this:

Image
That is a beautiful pot. Every time I see a pot like this, I’m confused why I like factory pots so much.
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OCTO
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Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:01 am

@helotea

What an awesome name to bring up here!!....

My humble 2cents worth..... GJZ is a highly revered master in the Yixing sphere. I strongly suggest you get it certified by a Yixing historian!! None of us here have adequate credentials to come to a conclusive certainty that your pot is indeed made by GJZ. Each Yixing Master from that era and of that level of mastery have their very own unique signature strokes that sets them apart from the rest.

You might have a true gem in your hands... I would even pay a good sum to get it verified. If the conclusion is positive, get it insured ... hahahaha..... It's easily a 6 figure pot!

Without a conclusive certainty, I'm sorry to say, each GJZ pot will almost always be seen as a replica or a sad attempt to replicate the Master's craft. Before any conclusion is achieved, I stand by my 2cents.... as the saying goes..... if it's too unbelievably good to be true, it's too good to be true.

I concur with @steanze and @Bok... hope our brutal sincerity doesn't dent your passion in joining us in the rabbit hole. It's a whole lot of fun here.

Cheers!!

helotea wrote:
Sun Dec 19, 2021 3:51 am
This is my collection,shui ping tea pot made by Gujingzhou
I like it a lot.

Muo yuan zhai jing tang zhi
Lid: jing ji

Your opinions?
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Bok
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Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:26 am

@helotea if you are so sure, do you care to share what makes you think it is? Any serious collector will first of all assume everything is fake and then look for clues why it might be indeed authentic.

Everyone can have different viewpoints, but everyone else has at least presented some arguments as to why they see it their way.

But I suspect you do not really care in the first place and have other intentions as just to “share” images of a teapot…

I am writing all this more for the benefit of anyone reading, so they don’t get the wrong idea about these teapot/s…

Anyways… be careful everyone.
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