The Research Of The Yixing Stoneware Mould

According to the book “The report of Yixing teaport” written by Wu qian of“The Famous Ceramics of Yangxian” written by Zhou Gaoqi which was during the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Jiaqing,the method of creating purple clay teapot with moulds was pioneered by Gongchun and abandoned by Shi Dabin. It shows the original Yi Xing purple clay ceramic craft mode is half by mould and half by hand. It would be incomprehensive when we study the history and tradition of the purple clay craft without doing researches on mould and forming process. Even Shi Dabin,who is known by making all-hand purple clay teapots, was deeply influenced by original mould and forming mode. Moreover, most of the purple clay ceramics during Ming and Qing dynasties such as folk daily pottery, royal porcelain and export porcelain were formed entirely or partially decorated with the help of moulds.Although moulding plays an important role in the development of purple clay ceramic crafts, there are few researches about it. If any, they are only studies focusing on the modern plaster moulds instead of moulds created and used since ancient times.From that point, my tutor Wu Gangrong has delved into the study of that field and created distinctive purple clay artworks with the help of moulds.In this paper, not only do I classify and summarize the history of mould and forming process, but also make some innovative practices in order to develop new forms of expression of art.