Shiwan Ceramic Sculpture From Pottery Clay

Shiwan Ceramics, Beauty, Color and Passion
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While the use of waste materials developed the flambe glaze tradition to its height, the Shiwan potters also made full use of their highly plastic and sculptured course pottery clay. To those familiar with the delicacy of porcelain, Shiwan pottery often at first appears bulky, heavy and course. As the eye becomes familiar with these characteristics, however, appreciation quickly develops for the tremendous delight the potters had in sculpting vessels into a great variety of plant and animal shapes.

In addition to their antiquarian bronze and jade designs, vases were sculpted in the forum of lotus leaves, mushrooms, bamboo, water chestnuts, bowls were made from lotus flowers, begonias, magnolias, prunus, and dishes were made in the shape of peaches, lotus leaves, autumn leaves, and sunflowers. Many vessels were sculpted in the forum of fish crabs, shells, baskets, and even whole landscape settings. Specialist in animal sculpture made ducks, cats, monkeys, lion dogs, birds, fish and all the animals of the zodiac.

{articular fun was added with the use of hundreds of different rebuses, local sayings, and allusions to poems of well known poets, Cantonese and otherwise. Research in this particular area of Shiwan art remains largely an untapped gold mine.