To evaluate the connotation of a teapot, we must have three main factors: beautiful image structure, exquisite production skills and excellent practical functions. The so-called image structure refers to the spout, wrench, lid, buckle and foot of the pot, which should be coordinated with the overall proportion of the pot body. Exquisite skill is the standard to judge the quality of pot art. Excellent practical function refers to the appropriate volume and weight, easy to hold the pot body, closed pot rue and smooth spout. At the same time, we should consider the exquisite harmony of colors and patterns.
If we talk abstractly about the aesthetics of teapot art, it can be summarized as four elements: form, spirit, qi and state. Form, that is, formal beauty, refers to the outline of the work, that is, the figurative face; God is verve, a charm that can make people experience spiritual beauty; Qi, that is, temperament, is the essential beauty embodied in pot art; State, that is, form, refers to various postures of a work, such as height, height, fat, thinness, rigidity, softness, squareness and roundness. In this respect, it is a really perfect good work. But here we must distinguish between reason and interest. If the pot lovers tend to be rational, the weight of the pot should be large and small, the mouth of the pot should be bent and straight, the lid of the pot should be straight and flat, and the figure should be tall and short, focusing on making tea and drinking, then they will only be rational and boring. Appreciation of art should be both reasonable and interesting. No matter the size of the work, whether the spout is curved or straight, whether the lid is straight or flat, and whether the shape is high or short, it is interesting. Interest can produce emotions, nourish the soul and enjoy it. Therefore, to appreciate a new shape, we should understand the essence of beauty before we begin to comment on it. Starting from this aesthetic attitude, we can win the praise of sand fans. Of course, as a practical handicraft, its applicability is also very important, and the comfort in use can please the body and mind and cause harmony and interest. Therefore, according to the habits and customs of drinking tea, we should selectively consider the capacity of the pot body, the smooth outflow of water from the spout, the labor-saving comfort of holding the handle and so on. These must be considered within a specific scope.
At present, the criteria for judging the quality of Yixing teapot can be summarized by five words: "mud, shape, workmanship, style and merit". The first four words are artistic standards, and the last one is functional standards, which are described as follows:
One is "mud": the teapot is famous all over the world, which is inseparable from its production, but the fundamental reason is its superiority in making raw material purple sand mud. When analyzing the raw materials of purple sand, many ceramic monographs in modern times talked about the composition of iron oxide in it. In fact, there are a lot of mud containing iron oxide all over the country, but purple sand can't be produced elsewhere, which shows that the key to the problem lies not in containing iron oxide, but in the "sand" of purple sand. According to the analysis of modern science, the molecular structure of purple sand mud is different from other mud, that is, the same purple sand mud, with different structures and subtle differences. In this way, due to the different raw materials, the functional utility and sensory experience are different.
Good function and utility, high quality, otherwise poor quality; Good sensory perception leads to high quality, and vice versa. Therefore, to evaluate the quality of a teapot, the first thing is the quality of mud.
According to the color of mud, it can be divided into six types: black mud, deep purple mud (commonly known as "spell purple"), light purple mud (commonly known as "general purple"), red mud, beige mud and green mud. When more than two kinds of mud are mixed or added to the chemical industry, many mud colors can be produced. In recent years, the mud color, dark green mud color and bronze mud color of frozen pears are all produced in this way.
But in any case, the change of mud color only brings people different visual sense, which is not helpful for function and feel. The teapot is a work of art with strong practical function. Especially due to the habit of use, the teapot needs constant touch to make it feel comfortable and achieve the purpose of physical and mental pleasure. Therefore, the feeling of purple sand surface is more important than mud color. Compared with other clays, purple sand has a remarkable feature that it feels different. A person familiar with purple sand can tell purple sand from non-purple sand with his eyes closed. This is touching a non-purple sand object, just like touching a glass object-sticking hands; Touching purple sand objects is like touching red bean paste-fine but not greasy, very comfortable. So evaluate a teapot. The feel of a pot watch is very important. The popular casserole in recent years is the product of emphasizing this quality and feel.
The second is "shape": the shape of the teapot is the richest in all kinds of utensils in the world, and it is known as "the square is different and the circle is different". How to evaluate these shapes is also "different people have different opinions", because the social function of art is to meet people's psychological needs, since there are all kinds of people, there will be all kinds of psychological needs; Generous love, generous love, delicate love, Gu Zhuo's love for Gu Zhuo, playful love, everyone has their own love and can't be forced. From the author's point of view, I think Gu Zhuo is the best, followed by generosity, beauty and fun. What is the reason? Since the teapot is an integral part of the whole tea culture, the artistic conception it pursues should be the artistic conception pursued by the tea ceremony, "indifferent, peaceful and refined", and Gu Zhuo is in the most harmonious atmosphere, so Gu Zhuo is the best.
Many pot makers know this truth and imitate Gu Zhuo. As a result, they lost their cuteness. You know, works of art are the expression of the author's mood, the result of self-cultivation, and irreplaceable by others. Therefore, there is no need to imitate.
Many traditional shapes of teapots left over from history, such as Shi Mao, Minefield, Buddhist monk's hat, ball, eggplant section, solitary mausoleum, plum blossom, antique, etc., are the only outstanding works left over from years of erosion, and still shine in today's perspective. Now many artists are copying, and they all have similarities and differences. For example, according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 100 kinds of stone pots, because artists at all times and all over the world have integrated their aesthetic interests into their works.
Speaking of "form", people often compare it with the schools of teapot art, and think that the schools of teapot can be divided into "ribbed bag", "fancy goods" and "light goods". In fact, this is a very analytical method. The reason is very simple, just like the genre classification of a drama performer, it should be determined not by what drama he plays, but by the spiritual realm he pursues in drama performance. Therefore, in the same flower, some people pursue Gu Zhuo, some people pursue beauty, and some people pursue fun. In their artistic career, once the art is mature, an artist will inevitably form his personal style, and several similar personal styles will become a genre.
Art is feeling. The quality of teapot depends entirely on personal feelings. The "equal sample" and "equal potential" of teapot are the "balance" of modeling. Talking about many profound theories is likely to become more and more unclear. Isn't there a saying that you can only understand, but you can't explain? The artistic feeling depends entirely on the inner voice and the understanding of the heart, which is called "but I feel the harmonious heartbeat of the sacred unicorn".
The third is "work": China's art has many similarities, such as the dance movements of Beijing opera and the freehand brushwork of Chinese painting, all of which belong to the bold category; Beijing opera singing and traditional Chinese painting meticulous brushwork are strictly listed; Modelling technique of Zisha Pot is similar to Beijing Opera singing and Chinese painting, and it is also very rigorous.
Point, line and surface are the basic elements that constitute the modeling of teapot. In the process of forming teapot, we must explain clearly, just like meticulous painting, we must explain clearly when we start writing, turn twists and turns, and cadence. Face, light is light, hair is hair; The line must be straight and curved; Points must be square, round and round, and there can be no ambiguity. Otherwise, it is not a good pot.
According to the special requirements of the molding process of teapot, the spout and handle should be absolutely in a straight line and the weight should be balanced; The spout should be closely combined with the lid. This is also the requirement of "work".
The fourth is "money": money is money in the pot. Appreciation of teapot has two meanings: one is to identify the author of teapot or the author of inscription. The other meaning is to appreciate the content of the inscription, the calligraphy and painting, and the seal (lithograph seal cutting).
The decorative art of teapot is a part of China's traditional art, which has the remarkable characteristics of China's traditional art of "poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal". Therefore, a teapot can be seen from mud color, modeling, production time, literature, calligraphy, painting, epigraphy and other aspects, which can bring more beautiful enjoyment to the teapot drinker.
Traditionally, teapots are priced according to people, and famous pots are worth a hundred times. Especially in the commodity society. In this way, many imitations of famous works are easy to appear in the market, and forged products are also common, especially when buying famous pots.
5. "Work": The so-called "work" refers to the functional beauty of the pot. In recent years, new products of teapot emerge one after another, such as dazzling stars. Pot makers pay attention to the formal beauty of modeling, but often ignore the phenomenon of functional beauty, which can be seen everywhere. In particular, some pot makers don't drink tea themselves, and they know little about tea drinking habits, which also directly affects the function of teapot, and some pots may even be "beautiful but useless".
In fact, the biggest difference between teapot and other works of art is that it is a very practical work of art, and its "art" lies in "use" and "quality". If the meaning of "use" is lost, "art" will cease to exist. Therefore, we must not ignore the functional beauty of the pot.
The functional beauty of teapot mainly lies in: (1) moderate capacity; (2) Appropriate height; (3) the valve is tight; (4) The water flow is smooth. According to the current tea drinking habits of southerners in China (including Porter), generally two to five people can drink tea, and the best capacity is 350 ml. Its capacity is just about four cups, and it only needs one hand to touch it, so it is called "one-handed pot".
The height of the teapot has its own purpose. High spout is small, suitable for making black tea; The short spout is large and suitable for brewing green tea, but it must be moderate. If it is too high, the tea will lose its taste. If it is too short, the tea will easily overflow from the lid, and the scenery will be great. The scenery was also blocked by the purple water flowing out of the pot. A few small tea beads turn into big leaves when they reach the pot, and it is easy to block the exit. Now, according to the habit of tea drinkers, the spout of the pot has been changed to a single spout, and the water flow is smoother than before.
It seems that it has little to do with functional beauty to require the lid of the pot to be strict so that the water for making the pot does not fall into the pot. Actually, we should pay attention to hygiene. All these are functional standards.