Fan Xi Ming: Xishi (Reverse Handle Concubine)

Fan Xi Ming

Fan Xi Ming

While there is a consensus to the classic form styles of the Yixing teapot, many artists try in many attempts to be creative with them. The popular Dao Ba Xishi template, for example, has virtually been unchanged for the past century or more. Yet Fan Xi Ming simply does not allow himself to make what everyone else have been making.

Being creative while abiding by the classic doctrines is a great challenge. Yet Fan’s portfolio is not short of such successes. Born to a family of generations of teapot makers in Yixing, and enrolled in the prestigious Yixing Factory 2 at the young age of 20, the skilful young artist had been able to work with much older masters to learn and form his own aesthetics.

Fan Xi Ming’s works have won numerous national and regional awards, and have been collected by private and institutional collectors. They have not been easy to get, much more so at this lower than market price. I am happy to be able to present them.

Appreciating this Dao Ba Xishi (Reverse Handle Concubine)

Closeup of the neck area of the Yixing teapot. Notice the bream design that is not usual in the classic form style.

In this particular Xishi teapot, Fan designed a small, yet visibly distinctive bream on the usually seamless neck. This is more than just a visual treat. It creates a more obtuse angle for a smoother, and safer, scraping action that most user would do during tea infusion. In the standard design, a slight mishandling could cause a crinkle or even a small crack.

It also makes opening the lid on subsequent rounds of infusion a lot easier by reducing the surface of contact between the lid and the neck. The larger the contact surface, the more likely a suction force could be form when the pot is wet. People who have previously used a Dao Ba Xishi of a smooth clay will definitely understand this phenomenon.

His “simple” redesign of the classic form artfully provide a beautiful solution.

Da Hong Pao clay

While there are many products claiming the use of this rare ore, most are blends, if not altogether fakes. A fine one as this is not a easy find. This clay, however well matured and kneaded, is low in malleability compared even to zhu-ni. Using it for a challenging form such as this Dao Ba Xishi, which extreme simplicity does easily reveal faults in the forming, is a technical challenge. Making it with such precision in proportion, curves and joints is a statement.

Packing: Tea towel pull bag in collector’s case

All Yixing teapots at Tea Hong are delivered with a pull-string towel sack in a collector box with cushions inside.

Note:

Unless otherwise stated, all Yixing teapots are new from the kiln. Please properly clean and prepare them before making tea in them. There is a proper procedure to do that. It is described at:
Yixing Teapots, An Introduction | Tea Guardian

We try our best to represent the colours of all tea accessories, including Yixing teapots in the product photographs. However, there are many factors that we cannot control, including those that affect how the photos are rendered in your computer or mobile device. There maybe interpreted discrepancies between the colour as seen on this site and that of the product you receive.