🫖 35 ml Shuiping 1998 year. Private studio at Yixing Factory №2

🔎 Background: I bought this set at a private auction in Taiwan. In fact, I only saw the box and the teapots sealed in it. I decided to take a chance and place a bid. The box came sealed in the original film, which I tore off. Fortunately, the teapots turned out to be very well made, made of very good quality clay and, moreover, made by the master in his private studio at Factory No 2. A brief and complete dossier on the master will be below.

👨🏻‍🎨 Master Chen Wen Nan 陈文南, made at the Chen Wen Nan studio 陈文南工作品, from 1975 to 1991 he worked at Factory No 1.

🧱 Zhu Ni clay (orange-red), high-fired, that is it will be universal for any tea. Teapots in original wax, inside there are remnants of clay sawdust from post-processing. The teapots were not cleaned to preserve authenticity, but it is enough to pour boiling water over them to remove the wax.

🌀 On the bottom there is the mark "China, Yixing, Made in the year of Wu-Yin" (1998) 中國宜興戊寅年製, on the handle there is the mark "Chen's Workshop" 陳記

🧂 Each teapot with a single hole is equipped with a filter-nest made of food-grade stainless steel.

Chen Wennan 陈文南

Brief Biography

Chen Wennan is a contemporary Yixing zisha artist, a member of the China Arts and Crafts Society (中国工艺美术学会), and a National Senior Arts and Crafts Master (国家级高级工艺美术师), a title conferred through the evaluation system of the China Arts and Crafts Society (中国工艺美术学会选评).

• 1954 — Born in Shushan, Yixing, Jiangsu Province.
• 1975 — Began his apprenticeship at Yixing Zisha Factory No. 1.
• 1985 — Completed advanced studies at the Department of Ceramics, Central Academy of Arts and Crafts.
• 1987 — Began working professionally in zisha sculpture, earning particular recognition for traditional figurative sculpture.
• 1991 — Joined Yixing Zisha Factory No. 2, where he became a disciple of the renowned master Xu Xiutang.

Profile

Chen Wennan specializes in the design of Yixing zisha forms, sculpture, and teapot making. His works have received numerous first prizes at national and international exhibitions and competitions. They are held in the permanent collections of museums and cultural institutions throughout China, including the K.S. Lo Collection / Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware in Hong Kong.

Dr. K.S. Lo (Lo Kwei-seong) deserves a separate book of his own. In brief, he was one of the world's foremost authorities on Yixing teapots, founder of the Museum of Tea Ware, a major donor to museums worldwide, and the author of numerous influential catalogues.

"In 1990, when I established the sculpture division at Factory No. 2, Director Shi Juntang recommended Chen Wennan as my apprentice.

Among all my students, he was the eldest, possessed the greatest practical experience, and naturally became the senior apprentice in the workshop.

By then, Wennan already had a solid foundation in artistic design and sculpture. Observing his work, I immediately recognized his natural talent."

— Xu Xiutang (徐秀棠), 6 August 2012

"In 1985, the Department of Ceramics at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts organized a one-year advanced training program in ceramic design in Tangshan, Hebei Province.

The program brought together the finest production specialists from China's leading ceramic centers. At the time, I served as Deputy Head of the Department of Ceramics and was responsible for developing the curriculum and organizing the program.

The Academy attached great importance to this initiative, with every professor—including the department leadership—participating in the teaching.

All participants studied diligently, but two students left the deepest impression on me: Chen Wennan from Yixing and Pan Bailin from Shiwan, Guangdong Province."

"To my knowledge, in the early years of his career Chen Wennan was engaged in technical development and architectural ceramic design. His projects included ceramic roof structures for the Beijing Library, decorative roofing for the Xuzhou Institute of Mining, the monumental sculpture Nezha Conquers the Sea for Longhu Park in Huainan, the mural Feitian for the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, as well as many other significant works."

— Professor Zhang Shouzhi (张守智), Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, 19 August 2012

Photo from Chen Wennan's solo exhibition on December 12, 2020 at the Xudong Antique City Art Museum