Verdant Tea

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Cai Shao Porcelain "Xuan Miao" Gaiwan

CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK

This fully handmade gaiwan is one-of-a-kind and available while supplies last

Crafted By Yi Xuan

This stunning hand-built, wood-fired gaiwan is from artist Yi Xuan’s personal collection.

This piece came out of her kiln with natural swirling iridescence, an artifact of the extreme heat of her multi-day firing process that gets so hot, she has to build her work from a special hand-blended porcelain mix instead of traditional clay which would otherwise break apart in the kiln.

Technical Specifications
- weight : 112 g
- apprx. capacity : 140 ml
- width : 10.5 cm
- height : 8 cm
- firing : Cai Shao

This gaiwan is not glazed - its color comes entirely from iron-oxide elements present in her porcelain reacting to the heat of the firing. This piece incredibly thin and light, a true pleasure to hold in the hand.

Note: this piece is entirely one-of-a-kind. The pictures you see are this exact gaiwan, which is unlike any other that comes out of Yi Xuan’s kiln.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Yi Xuan

Dehua County Yi Xuan Ceramics Research Institute |
Cai Shao Ceramics Studio Research Center

Master potter, artist and researcher Yi Xuan heads her own officially-recognized Ceramics Research Institute, accredited by the Dehua Ceramics Development Committee as a Research and Development site for collaboration with ceramics craft university programs. She primarily works with national-level ceramics masters and graduate program professors doing experimental kiln firings, researching new techniques and collaborating as an artist and kiln master.

Her wood-fired kiln is based on years of research on ancient firing techniques, along with modern science and collaboration. Due to the immense amount of work to do a firing, Yi Xuan only fires three times a year, with most space devoted to university research projects. This means her own body of work is tiny and mostly reserved by collectors before firing.

Yi Xuan and Verdant Tea

In November 2023, we were lucky enough to be introduced to Yi Xuan through a classmate that studied with one of the professors with whom she collaborates. We became quick friends.

Yi Xuan decided to make a few of the pieces held back for her own personal collection available to us as a cultural exchange to share Dehua’s ancient and ever changing ceramics tradition.