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🫖 Wagon Wheel. Late Qing Dynasty - Early Republic
⚱️ Before you is the famous Giant Wheel or Cart Wheel, which is approximately 100 years old. The teapot can be dated to the period: from the late Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the early Republic of China. That is, from ±1900 to 1930. It was then that these teapots gained wide popularity in Japan and Taiwan.
⚱️ The teapot is still very popular in Japan and Taiwan, has a recognized collector's value, and the prices for copies with the Heart Sutra reach cosmic values.
⚱️ The volume of the teapot is 70 ml. The shape of the spout is a cannon barrel, and the bottom is flat.
🧱 The clay is purple (Ji Ni), with a chocolate tint, oily. The main clay contains particles of yellow Duan Ni clay, which is a special chic.
History
The Giant Wheel 巨轮 or Wagon Wheel Teapot is a classic traditional type of Yixing clay teapot that became popular at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was especially appreciated in Japan and Taiwan. The design was created for practicality: the large opening in the lid makes it easier to pour out the tea grounds (used tea), and the straight spout ensures free pouring. In ancient times, people liked to warm the teapot in their hands, feel it and “play” with it; small, rounded teapots were better suited for this method of use.
Origin of the shape
The origin of the Giant Wheel dates back to the end of the Qing Dynasty, when Yixing teapots were massively exported to Japan. Japanese aesthetics differed from traditional Yixing: they preferred asymmetry and roughness, and valued imperfection and incompleteness. In the Japanese tea ritual, this form gained wide acceptance. The teapot was perceived as a work of art, combined with the tea ceremony, giving it a deeper meaning. The atypical outlines were considered to merge with the natural landscape, emphasizing the coexistence of natural beauty and human feelings. On the tea table, its peculiar appearance harmonizes with the surroundings and creates a special atmosphere.
Features
Unlike the late Qing Yixing pottery traditions, which sought symmetry and sophistication, the Giant Wheel has asymmetrical and uneven features, as well as deliberate simplicity. The products often show traces of touch and raw areas: fine grinding is deliberately weakened or omitted. This approach radiates the aesthetics of incompleteness, imprecision, and impermanence inherent in the Japanese taste of the time.