“Handmade” purple Clay Teapots can perhaps be understood as follows: apart from very low-quality “slipcast pots” (a method similar to metal casting), all Purple Clay teapots are handmade. It's more appropriate to say that the body of the teapot, lid, and knob are all handmade rather than simply stating “fully handmade teapot.”
The term “handmade teapot” now is either a popular catchphrase or one used by sellers to intentionally blur the lines for sales purposes. When delved into, “handmade teapot” generally refers to a Purple Clay Teapot made without the use of molds.
As Purple Clay teapots receive increasing attention across society, new concepts have emerged in the Purple Clay world. The classification and naming of clay materials already make people feel lost, and in recent years, the concept of “handmade teapots” has appeared. In the market, it is common to see descriptions such as “handcrafted” or “purely handcrafted” being used to justify the price of teapots. Such statements are so bold that even the old artisans who traditionally used molds to make Purple Clay teapots would feel ashamed.
How should we understand “handmade teapots”? By its name, fully handmade means entirely crafted by hand. So, is a teapot made using a mold considered a handmade teapot? One way of classifying tea leaves is to divide them into machine-made and handmade. Tea leaves produced with machines replacing manual operations are called machine-made tea, while those that are entirely handmade from picking to completion are called handmade tea. From this perspective, in the making of Purple Clay teapots, the use of machinery instead of handwork in any step would not qualify it as a handmade teapot. Even if tools are used, as long as each step is completed by hand, it should still be considered “handmade.”
If we were to measure the value of a Ceramic artwork based on the “handmade teapot” theory, then perhaps many famous works of today's world-class ceramics, which have used molds, would need to be removed from major museums.
Molds are a type of tool and one of the most common tools used by humans. The history of using molds to make ceramics is very long. Specifically regarding Purple Clay teapots, Pan Chunfang, a renowned teapot maker originally from Yixing and now residing in Australia, mentioned a mold used during the Ming Dynasty in an article she wrote for “China Purple Clay.”
Dozens of tools are needed to make a Purple Clay teapot, and molds are just one of them. Using molds to shape certain parts is only one step in the process of making a Purple Clay teapot. No one can create a finely crafted Purple Clay teapot purely by hand without using any tools.
We should objectively and fairly treat “mold forming.” If a large quantity of Purple Clay wares is required within a short period, using molds can be a good solution. Moreover, there are masters like Wang Yin-Chun, one of the Seven Elders of Purple Clay, who are experts at making molds.
Since the reform and opening up, not only have the older generation of famous artisans revived ancient methods (making us think of Yang Pengnian from the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods of the Qing dynasty, who used “ancient methods” unlike most others who used molds), but also excellent artisans in their forties and fifties are now using traditional techniques to shape the body of teapots by hand. Today, young apprentices learning the craft should also master these time-honored techniques because shaping the body by hand allows for more personalized creations. Hand shaping the body has become a new trend. However, it is important to point out the exaggeration and inappropriateness in language. Simply not using a mold for the body does not equate to “fully handmade teapot,” which goes against the normative terminology of “hand shaping the body.” If the aesthetics do indeed surpass those made with molds, considering the difficulty of forming and the labor-intensive process that results in lower production, it is reasonable for the price to be higher than those formed with molds around the body. We believe our stance is fair.