History of Purple Clay Pots

According to the Chinese history and archaeologists, purple clay had been used by Chinese people since Song dynasty around 1000 years ago.  Based on the broken pieces archaeologists found, the purple clay was used for basic pots for boiling water, etc...

Only until Ming dynasty, we found the first craftsman in purple clay teapots in our history book.  His name was Gong Chun (供春).  We cannot find his work anymore but there are some replications.

Replica of Gong Chun teapot

However, the beginning of "modern" way of crafting purple clay teapots started with Shi Daibin (時大彬).  His father together with many craftsmen and himself during that period of time developed unique craftsmanship which left us many great teapots...   

By Shi Daibin around 1616

By Shi Daibin around 1610

Purple Clay with Carved Lacquer Teapot by Shi

Since then, the purple clay teapots are very popular, not only for drinking tea, but for art collection by kings, government officials, and rich people...

In particular during the Qing dynasty, many famous masters are found and these teapots are kept by museums and collectors all over the world today...

Pumpkin Teapot by Chen Mingyuan (陳鳴遠) during Qing dynasty

Half Moon Tile Teapot by Chen Mansheng (陳曼生), a very famous master in Qing