Yixing Zi Sha is an art form with a long history and rich appeal. The decorative arts have been developed through the research and creation of Zi Sha artisans over time. Different decorative arts have different effects when applied to different themes. This method of aligning decoration with the subject, the teapot, and the intention adds a cultural dimension to the Zi Sha teapot.
The development of Zi Sha art has led to various decorative techniques, which are detailed as follows:
Engraving: This is one of the main decorative techniques of Zi Sha. It uses a knife instead of a brush and engraving instead of Painting, integrating poetry, calligraphy, painting, and engraving into a harmonious whole, with a strong national style and regional characteristics. Known as “Man Sheng Hu”, “characters are passed down along with the teapot, and the teapot becomes valuable because of the characters,” it made a historical contribution to the art of Zi Sha engraving. After the Qing Dynasty, Zi Sha engraving decoration became a specialized production process. The subjects and forms are extremely varied. Landscapes, flowers and birds, figures, and ancient patterns are all potential subjects for painting, while calligraphy is an indispensable decorative element. Regular script, cursive script, clerical script, seal script, zhong ding (ancient bronze inscriptions), stone drum text, and other different styles of calligraphy combine the form and decoration organically, complementing each other. Zi Sha engraving does not excel in depicting layered scenes but focuses on composition, imagery, the rhythm of the knife strokes, and their strength.
Mud Painting: Mud painting is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. It uses a brush as a tool and Zi Sha clay as “ink” and “paint,” painting with the clay rather than working it or using a brush. Mud painting can depict landscapes, flowers, birds, figures, ancient patterns, calligraphy, poems, or life mottos, integrating poetry, calligraphy, and painting into a harmonious whole, with a strong national style and regional characteristics. Mud painting uses authentic Zi Sha clay as “ink” and “paint,” painting on teapots, which is a significant innovation by Zi Sha artisans. It differs from other materials, colorants, or glazes used to decorate Zi Sha teapots and is a unique decorative language and technique of Zi Sha. Judging from surviving pieces, mud painting began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In terms of color, mud painting is divided into single-color painting and two-color painting.
Color Painting: Also known as colored glaze, this is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. It originated during the reigns of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. First, glaze is used to stack the base layer of the pattern on the fired Zi Sha body, then colored outlines are drawn, and finally, the piece is fired at a low temperature. There are generally two methods of colored glaze decoration: One is stacked colored glaze, which includes content such as flowers, birds, landscapes, figures, and patterned calligraphy, commonly known as “double-layer glaze.” The other is to glaze the entire surface of the object, making the glaze like a skin, smooth and glossy like ointment, capable of reflecting light like a mirror, commonly known as “single-layer glaze.” Regarding Zi Sha colored glaze decoration, there have always been two fundamentally opposing views: One considers it “exquisitely beautiful, with eye-catching colors,” while the other believes that “although it enhances the decorative effect of Zi Sha, it conceals the unique material beauty of Zi Sha.”
Inlaying Silver (Gold): Zi Sha gold and silver wire inlay decoration is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. It involves designing and engraving the patterns that require inlaying of silver and gold, and then cutting fine grooves for the silver and gold wires on the Zi Sha body, which is done after the body has been fired at high temperatures. The gold and silver create masterpieces, embodying the relationship between craftsmanship and art, as well as between the teapot and its decoration. They also represent the elevation from simplicity to luxury. From the outline, texture, and tone, they form an integrated effect, creating a new elegant and luxurious style in a natural way.
Gilding: This is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. Gilding, originally the most common method used in lacquerware, typically involves using gold to paint on the surface of the lacquered object. Zi Sha borrows and adapts this method, directly applying genuine gold ground into gold powder on the design layout on the teapot body. It uses a variety of techniques to add gilded decorations, integrating poetry, calligraphy, painting, and inscriptions into a harmonious whole. The techniques are skillful, the paintings are elegant and refined, the brushwork is vigorous and fluent, the painting is precise and neat, and the combination of poetry and painting makes the decoration dignified and elegant.
Twisted Clay: This is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. Zi Sha twisted clay, also called “twisted body,” involves twisting together two or more differently colored clay bodies to achieve the desired texture effect, and then forming them into slabs, cylindrical bodies, or joined cylindrical bodies. The technique of twisted clay reached a high level during the Tang Dynasty. Modern Zi Sha twisted clay has evolved into a unique decorative technique. Starting from the artist's own creativity, different techniques are implemented according to different creative themes. Following the predetermined design requirements, clay bodies of different colors are formed into slabs, and various methods such as laying, layering, stacking, kneading, inlaying, joining, pressing, and coiling are used, either to decorate the body of the teapot, the attachments of the teapot, the entire teapot, or parts of the teapot.
Lace Carving: This is one of the traditional decorative techniques of Zi Sha. Lace carving employs a “lace” technique, which originally referred to the hollowing out of objects. Lace, lace carving, and lace engraving are interrelated and inseparable, commonly known as lacework, which is essentially a type of lace carving. Zi Sha lace carving can be single-layer or double-layer. On the single-layer or double-layer body, the artist designs and plans the required patterns, arranging them rationally. Regardless of the content, whether it is figures, landscapes, calligraphy, or poems, the artist can achieve the ideal effect according to the design requirements. A Zi Sha lace carved teapot consists of a double layer, with the inner wall for holding Tea, and the outer wall lace-carved, novel and unique, intricately realistic, finely vivid, and exquisitely crafted, making it one of the best examples of Zi Sha lace carving decoration.
Sprinkling Sand: Sprinkling sand involves applying sand particles of different clay colors to the surface of a Zi Sha body that still has some moisture, using methods such as spreading, dotting, or scattering. Then, tools are used to embed the sand particles into the surface layer of the body. Sprinkling sand primarily serves as a decorative accent, creating a striking contrast between the sand points and the body of the fired Zi Sha piece.
