This is the latest Han Jiang shape specially embarked by our latest Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming. Gu Xiao Ming has been "roped in" since May 2024 by our Craftsman Chen Fa Chu for us in a happy team!
Craftsman Gu explains that, the Han Jiang 寒江 when done well! :-D has a very balanced body, but this requires careful and detailed hard work and a huge sense of, and staunch commitment to aesthetic cohesiveness, on all aspects:
The curve of the bulge of the main body, tallying with the exact placement of the spout base onto the body, the exquisite spout tip with properly furnished edges despite the intrinsic kink, the lid-knob whose form and whose height cannot be too tall to prevent upsetting the overall cohesiveness of the entire shape when viewed at all angles on your tea table, and the handle.
Of particular note is the lid-knob, which is a actually a mini-sculptural motif itself. (Sculptural work is an Art fraternity by itself: Artists and Craftsmen are of its own fraternity in YiXing):
1...the surfacing and refining work around the mini-ring about its "pillar" core, requires more time and much more care.
2...The VENTILATION HOLE is made WITH MUCH PRIDE by Gu Xiao Ming:
Appreciate this:
Notice the ventilation hole comes out from the SIDE rather than straight up? Our adorable Gu Xiao Ming, in order to perfect the form and final aesthetics of this cohesive Han Jiang: performed and crafted it horizontal, ventilating from the side: HIDING under the mini-ring!
This LOVE and care of Fully-Handmaking Artists, must be appreciated.
The details are always what points to the 1)labour of love, 2)their YEARS of staunchly sticking to Fully-Handmaking work, and 3)their PRIDE OF WORK.
Yes, PRIDE OF WORK.
Thus the ventilation hole is a complicated L-shaped WITHIN the lid-knob.
It is a great mini-sculptural work.
We love our Fully-Handmaking Craftsmen.
In addition, notice the handle: it is the Dao Ba 倒把 handle design reminiscent of the Dao Ba 倒把 handle of the... Xi Shi! You have seen how Craftsman Yi Xiao Ran in our mainpage's video: where with one experienced movement of both hands, bend the slender clay strip into the form she wanted! Here Craftsman Gu, being very experienced with the Xi Shis that many of you have collected (remember also that amazing Qian Gai interface of that Xi Shi by Gu Xiao Ming!,): he perfects and presents this Dao Ba handle to all of you! Perfect curve, slender on top and tapering to a thicker form on the tail end bottom, curving in acutely!to meet the body! With a thinner top and a thicker bottom, you can easily know that, from that one swift movement to bend it, the thinner top having less tensile strength, would bend more, but Gu Xiao Ming with his years of dexterity, know-how and experience, created this Dao Ba SMOOTHLY with a more acutely bent bottom strip of clay.
We are not done yet: this Dao Ba handle, is not round in cross-section: IT IS OVOID! It is flattish-ovoid in its cross section. Gu Xiao Ming again, creates this carefully FOR THE EVENTUAL ERGONOMICS OF USE! : Three points of contact with the handle during use:
1) The pulp of our distal phalanx of the thumb,
2) The palmar aspect of the middle phalanx of the index finger,
3) and, the dorsal aspect of the middle phalanx of the middle finger.
The flattish-ovoid form in cross-section of the handle, allows for an extremely comfortable hold and a more secure hold with more surface contact between handle and your fingers: more grip.
Thank you Gu Xiao Ming for letting us all HOLD and handle a perfect Dao Ba!!! Delectable, lovely, and understated
Thank you Craftsman Gu for your hard work and experience exercised to its fullest and diligently for all of us.
Craftsman Gu also conscientiously sculpted a 手推内球孔 Hand-Pushed Spherical Filter to increase the number of filter holes for a solid and fast pour of tea out and with better catching of tea leaves at the bottom fast while allowing tea to flow out from the upper holes.
Dearest Friends, thank you, on behalf of Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming 顾小明 for your kindest support to him and fellow devoted Craftsmen left here, to fend the Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art, providing honest-to-goodness hard-worked Fully-Handmade ZiSha premium-skilled-craft at the lowest prices on the market. Savour his labour of love and this beauty from his hands, the Han Jiang and let his kind work from his heart accompany you on your tea journey!
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BRING ONE HOME, USE IT and you will know all about Fully-Handmade ZiSha, the feel of real and quality YiXing ZiSha, the nurturing of Patina, how true ZiSha Patina feels and looks like, the Zenith Tea Taste that only Pure and Good Quality ZiSha can give you, and equally important: the Aura exuding from a Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work which others simply can't bring forth, all from the hands of Craftsman Gu Xiao Ming's skills. You will know everything then. With you friends, we are altogether fending our common tea culture.
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Carefully examine these Fully-Handmade works by our devoted and committed Craftsmen. Look at it from afar, from near, and it will grow on you, with fine detailing with MUCH THOUGHT on each part, with MUCH TIME spent on every part, section. Because this is what Fully-Handmade ZiSha Art should be, and HOW FULLY-HANDMADE ZISHA ART is so different from and light years ahead of the ubiquitous jigger-machined pots and half-handmade pots masquerading under the sales tagline of "fully-handmade zisha" pots. These latter JM/HHM pots are made in what we call 流水线 a.k.a. 'Factory-Line operation' whereby the main pot body after being jigger-machined or coming off from the mould, is passed to the next worker who fits on the spout, and subsequently this second worker will pass the pot on to another worker who will in turn fit on the handle. Continuing so, the pressed lid is likewise passed to another worker who fit on the lid knob. EACH WORKER has NO IDEA what the other one is doing, and they are always working on fixed time lines stated by the boss. For example, the worker being "passed the baton" a pot with the spout just fixed onto the body by his colleague, will only focus on fixing on the handle, with nil to little regard to WHETHER THE HANDLE fixed on will be cohesive with the spout. Each worker has NO idea of HOW THE FINAL POT WILL LOOK LIKE. Beyond poor craftsmanship and clay, the result of such processes are ugly pots with poor cohesiveness which experienced Artists, Craftsmen and collectors will tell from a metre away. Experienced people in us, do not need to pick up a pot to check whether it is fully-handmade or made of zisha, we can tell from a metre away just by looking at the pot.
The keywords are: Detailing and Cohesiveness.
A GOOD Fully-Handmade ZiSha Work combines great detailing and cohesiveness.
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(Dear Friends, during the photo-taking process, five to six separate spotlights above and around, are used. Looking at the photos, the collar-rim of the lid-body interface thus shows the various spotlights' reflection. You will therefore see 2 to 3 scattered brighter spots around the collar-rim. Some friends had asked before, "is the rim-collar having any irregularity in circularity?". Thus, rest assured. Do not misconstrue the two to three brighter spots around the lid-body rim collar to mean any irregularity in circularity of the rim-collar.
Yes, the rim-collars of all these ZiSha works crafted by our Craftsmen ARE REGULAR in CIRCULARITY :-D, and you can rest assured. Thank you Friends.)
