Verdant Tea

These spectacular moonlight white gongfu teacups reflect artist Yi Xuan’s research into complex ash-glazing techniques that involve multiple firings and layers of glaze to capture the depth and complexity of cai shao wood firing with the nuance and control of electric firing, yielding a delicate crackling almost celadon-like effect that draws on Song Dynasty Jun Yao in spirit through the contrasting white and black. Each piece is entirely handmade, one of only six to come out of the kiln this year! Each of the six pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Experimental porcelain artist Yi Xuan is always pushing the boundaries of tradition and material science. This new firing shows off her masterful combination of glazing effects- starting with an electric kiln firing to set the delicate porcelain, then an ash glaze wood kiln firing, and finally an electric firing to set the stunning, swirling glassy reds. Fully hand-built, this cup feels like holding an ancient piece excavated after thousands of years. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Sitting around the tea table together, Yi Xuan calls these stunning, hand-built pieces her ‘classic porcelain’ with a smile on her face. What she means is that these cups are her only work that gets a traditional white glaze, a nod to her training and discipline as a potter in China’s oldest center of porcelain culture. Of course, this work is nothing like “classic” porcelain, with its subtle coloration that comes from Yi Xuan’s unique wood-firing process, and the celadon-like crackling. The sculptural shapes of each piece are a testament to her insistence to form each cup by hand without a lathe or even a potters wheel- her tribute to ancient craft.  This tasting cup is small enough for sipping traditional gongfu tea. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Experimental porcelain artist Yi Xuan is always pushing the boundaries of tradition and material science. This new firing shows off her masterful combination of glazing effects- starting with an electric kiln firing to set the delicate porcelain, then an ash glaze wood kiln firing, and finally an electric firing to set the stunning, swirling glassy redsthat evoke the glowing fire of Yi Xuan’s own wood kiln . Fully hand-built, this cup feels like holding an ancient piece excavated after thousands of years. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Aroma cups are an essential part of old-school gongfu tea - a cup whose sole purpose is to collect, focus, and concentrate the aroma of your tea. Experimental porcelain artist Yi Xuan was fascinated with the idea of firing a small batch of exquisitely thin, hand-thrown aroma cups in her wood kiln to match her stunning tea cups. This first batch came out beautifully! Her unique two step firing involves an electric kiln firing to set the unglazed porcelain, followed by application of a blended ash glaze, and finally, an extensive multi-day wood-firing in her huge kiln, reaching temperatures so high that the cup has to be hand-built from her custom porcelain blend instead of traditional clay. Holding the cup in hand, it feels like holding an ancient piece unearthed after thousands of years with its purple and silver swirling iridescence. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Sitting around the tea table together, Yi Xuan calls these stunning, hand-built pieces her ‘classic porcelain’ with a smile on her face. What she means is that these cups are her only work that gets a traditional white glaze, a nod to her training and discipline as a potter in China’s oldest center of porcelain culture. Of course, this work is nothing like “classic” porcelain, with its subtle coloration that comes from Yi Xuan’s unique wood-firing process, and the celadon-like crackling. The sculptural shapes of each piece are a testament to her insistence to form each cup by hand without a lathe or even a potters wheel- her tribute to ancient craft.  This cup is larger than a mini gongfu cup, done at a scale to show off the color and sculptural quality of the work- perfect for one or two people pouring gongfu. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

This hand-built piece by artist Yi Xuan looks like it was hewn from a solid piece of stone, the way she shaped this by hand to preserve a solid anchoring feeling accentuated by her unique two step firing that involves an electric kiln firing to set the unglazed porcelain, followed by application of a blended ash glaze and finally an extensive multi-day wood-firing in her old-school kiln, reaching temperatures so high that the cup has to be hand-built from her custom porcelain blend instead of traditional clay. Holding the cup in hand, it feels like holding an ancient piece unearthed after thousands of years. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

Experimental Porcelain artist Yi Xuan turns the expectations of exquisite porcelain on their head with this new sculpted tea cup series. While De Hua’s tradition is rooted in precision, this piece is reasserts the craft and humanity behind porcelain art. If you look closely, you can see Yi Xuan's own fingerprints in the sculpted natural shape of the cup. Her unique two step firing involves an electric kiln firing to set the unglazed porcelain, followed by application of a blended ash glaze and finally an extensive multi-day wood-firing in her old-school kiln, reaching temperatures so high that the cup has to be hand-built from her custom porcelain blend instead of traditional clay. Holding the cup in your hand, it feels like holding an ancient piece unearthed after thousands of years. Each of these pieces has slight natural variation, part of the beauty of truly hand-made work from one of China’s preeminent ceramics research scholars.

These stunning green, glassy cups represent an entirely new body of work for experimental porcelain artist Yi Xuan. While Yi Xuan has been focused deeply on the effect of ash glaze and iron oxides in the kiln for the past year, these “Dragon Scale” pieces reach towards celadon craft and glazing technique. She applies this perspective to the higher heat, higher stakes porcelain firing process instead of traditional stoneware, and with a “cao mu hui” or ash-based glazing.. Her work hand-sculpting each piece makes them fully unique - with mottling, depth, texture and even flashes of silver hidden in the glazing work. Yi Xuan’s process and her kiln make for stunningly unique pieces that can never turn out the same again. Once this individual cup finds a new home, it is gone.