Fu Hu 福壶, 206.8ml, Zi Ni 紫泥, by Craftsman Zhao Li Ping 赵丽萍。
Craftsman Zhao Li Ping and Craftsman Fu Xian Qiang.
Dearest Friends, Craftsman Zhao Li Ping and Craftsman Fu Xian Qing are a pair of highly skilled ZiSha Craftsmen whose works punch above their weight. We at the Cao Family have talked to them, and have convinced them to join us. And we will curate together from now onwards, with each of them crafting a very special pot for you friends every three weeks. Craftsman Fu Xian Qiang kicked off the series two weeks ago with the amazing Yuan Gan Fang 圆敢方古 version of the Ping Gai Shi Piao 平盖石瓢。
In our local YiXing fraternity, Ground Zero, there are many of us in the true proper circle (sorry to write it this way) who value, grade and judge the skill and craftsmanship and Art of ZiSha Works, regardless of the rank of the Artist/Craftsman. Yes, the rank of the Artist/Craftsman almost, do not matter any more. We value the work before us, according to its inherent skill involved and the Artistic flair and aesthetics it embodies and presents to us. When you friends have a chance to gather together with us in YiXing with Grand Master Cao Ya Lin, Grand Master He Dao Hong, Grand Master Chen Guo Liang, Grand Master Shao Shun Sheng; Senior Masters Cao An Xiang, Lu Xue Feng, Yuan Hui, Cao Lan Fang,; Masters Lu Shun Rong, Li Yan Ru; Assoc Masters Zhang Xue Lei, Zhang Ke, Yang Quan Sheng, Chen Xi Fang, Du Cheng Yao, Xu Yan, Xu Jian, we will all speak to you friends thus.
We will guide all of you friends the right way, and to drink tea and hold proper reverenced and referenced conversations with these Artists, that are worthy of your own recording for your future years of ZiSha Art appreciation, learning and collection.
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This is the Fu Hu 福壶, a delectable creation by Craftsman Zhao Li Ping!
Admire the beautiful cohesion and fine work, the lines and the aura that a great work exudes. Not flamboyant. All cohesive. Understated.
福 Fu, means Good Fortunes and Prosperity.
This work Fu Hu is astutely crafted by Zhao Li Ping: in its ENTIRETY from the start, from conceptualisation, ideation, design to every tool used to craft this pot. This is a superbly mastered pot in the eyes of connoisseurs.
The lid knob, the lid interface, the shoulder lines, the angles of the shoulder, the slight curve of the spout to coincide with the slight curve from the bottom upwards to the shoulder (if the spout had been conveniently rolled by the tool to be exactly straight lined, it will not rhyme in with the overall design aesthetic language of the pot). The character is also purposely styled and sculpted with genteel angles. The front spout and the rear handle both sport and convey the identical upwards "lift". The lifting of the auspicious-ness, the lifting of Good Fortunes and Prosperity.
And here comes the touch that is both very lovable and wise: the word Fu 福 is styled so that when it points forwards towards the spout, the user would be INVERTING the word:
This has absolute crucial meaning for us Chinese. The inverted character Fu, denotes strongly the meaning of THE ARRIVAL OF FORTUNES AND PROSPERITY for the family! You may not know this Chinese meaning, but we will explain thus this adorable and adored practice amongst us Chinese :-D :
1. 福 倒 Fu Dao, means Fu Inverted.
2. 福 到 also pronounced Fu Dao, means Fu Arrived! This is a play on the two characters with the same pronounciation :-D
Hence, Zhao Li Ping astutely created this pot to convey the grand, critical and important meaning for the owner:
The ARRIVAL of Good Fortunes and Prosperity every time the owner tilts the teapot forward (when serving tea), simultaneously INVERTING the Fu Character :-D !
3. 福 倒, the same word 倒 not only means inverted in Chinese meaning, it has ANOTHER meaning, which is to POUR :-D.
倒茶 Dao Cha, means EXACTLY: to Pour Tea!
Therefore, you see the entire picture from Zhao Li Ping's heart:
The ARRIVAL of Good Fortunes and Prosperity every time the owner tilts the teapot forward to POUR and serve tea, and the tea that is being savoured and drank, contains that AUSPICIOUS ENERGY!
We absolutely love Craftsman Zhao's hard work and wise work here,
there is only One Piece,
So Cherish this One and Only ZiSha Fu Hu lovely auspicuous work by Craftsman Zhao Li Ping!
This ZiSha work sells at 4,000rmb in our local China. BUT, as always at RealZiSha, we always engage strongly the Crafters and Artists so as to the best deal for all of you! FOR ALL of you friends at RealZiSha, from Craftsman Zhao, you can acquire this at only $339! Craftsman Zhao, she agrees!
Craftsman Zhao Li Ping and Craftsman Fu Xian Qiang, being now part of the realzisha team, understands our mission and vision of presenting the very best authentic ZiSha works to all of you at REALLY SPECIAL prices, lowest in the market. Enjoy the immense aura from this Fu Hu ZiSha work, and the auspicious tunes it give you and your family! A hard-worked piece of usable Tea Art that took Craftsman Zhao close to a full month from start to finish.
