Are purple clay pots handmade

Basic Techniques of Zisha Pot Molding

The molding methods of Zisha pots can be broadly categorized into two types: beating the body cylinder and setting the body cylinder. These two types of molding methods have been used for a long time in the production of daily-use pottery in the Yixing area with a long history, but in the Zisha molding process, this has been developed to the fullest extent.

The tools used in the molding of zisha pots are mainly clay stools, wooden hitches, turntables, wooden clappers, bamboo clappers, rectangular cars, small carpenter's knives, sharp knives, bright needles, etc. These are used to make various kinds of zisha pots. These are the general tools for making all kinds of Zisha blanks. In addition, according to the different styles of teapots and craft requirements, but also need to prepare many special small tools.

One, playing the body tube

Round type pots generally use the body tube modeling method. First of all, the clay material with a hitch hammer into a uniform thickness of clay. The thickness of the clay piece, depending on the size of the teapot to decide, generally about three or four millimeters. Then according to the design of the diameter of the teapot, plus the coefficient of contraction during firing, multiplied by the circumference, and added to the joints at both ends of the amount of surplus as well as the height of the body of the cylinder, the clay slice cut into rectangular clay bars. The strips of clay are formed into a cylinder on a turntable, the two ends are folded together, and a small carpenter's knife is used to cut diagonally across the folds in one pass, forming a joint that butts up nicely, and then the joints are glued together with shi ni (滋泥), which is made from the same clay as the other pieces of clay. Shimoi is a thick slurry made of the same clay material mixed with water, and it works somewhat like the mortar used by masons to build brick walls. After gluing, mark the joint to memorize the position for later installation of the handle. This will hide any marks that may appear at the joint after firing.

Then, with the fingers of the left hand into the round clay cylinder, gently support the inner wall (as a liner so that the force of the outer body of the clap in the backlash), the right hand holding a wooden beat beat the upper part of the outer wall of the clay cylinder, while patting the side of the turn (the left hand in the interior of the inner wall of the pot slowly with the help of the radius of the clay clap and the outside of the pincer to generate pincers), the mouth of the cylinder part of the miraculous gradual shrinkage. When it has shrunk to the desired size, seal the top mouth of the prepared round piece of clay with Zi clay (here: a viscous slurry that has been repeatedly blended with water); then turn the clay cylinder upside down and tap the other end of the cylinder to make it shrink and seal the mouth. At this point, a hollow pot is formed. Then rotate the turntable, according to the requirements of the shape, with the beat rolling body tube, or lift or press, so that the shape of the open shoulders and expanding the abdomen, so that the shoulders of the pot body, belly, foot and other sections of the shoulder is clear and correct, the line combination of beautiful, transitional Pavilion even.

To be after the body tube basic molding, and then with the neck and foot. Preparation of neck and foot method, is the thickness of different round clay piece (clay piece diameter is the outer diameter of the neck and foot), stick in the body tube of the upper and lower ends. After the outer edge of the pot mouth and the outer edge of the foot is corrected, the middle part of the clay piece with a gauge car rotary cut and remove, leaving the neck and foot circle of clay is. In addition, must do a good job of the mouth, handle, with the pot cover, and with a variety of "line stalks" (with cattle horn or bamboo made of special tools, some of the role of carpentry like the production of window frames, mirror frames, "line planer") on the various parts of the line at the turn of the repeated strangulation, ticking, so that the edges of the line clear and smooth. smooth. Below the lid of the pot, there is a circle of straight and wide "sub-mouth", the outer diameter of the sub-mouth, be sure to closely match the inner diameter of the pot, and can be turned through. When installing the pot handle and spout, first find the joints of the clay piece when playing the body tube. Generally in the joints on one side of the first installation of the handle, and then in the joints on the opposite side of the pre-dug water sieve holes, and then glued to the mouth of the pot. Make sure to make the mouth, handle and the vertical center of the body tube surface superposition in the same section. At this point, the teapot blank is basically complete. The rest of the work is to use the bright needle through the body calendaring, to achieve the "billet off the hands of the light can illuminate the face" requirements. Finally, in the bottom of the pot and the cover with the author's name seal, drying, waiting for the kiln firing.

Second, the body tube

Square (including four-square, six-square, eight-square, etc.) pots of the molding method, mainly with the set of the body tube approach. It is also the first clay piece, according to the design intention of the preparation of samples, according to the samples cut pieces of clay, with Zi mud will be set to clay pieces of clay bonded together, made into a small clay box, is the prototype of the teapot. And then use tools to shoot, strangle, pressure, with the mouth, handle, cover, the finishing touches are completed.

This process of beating the mud piece, in fact, is to use external force to make the mud particles tightly compressed and compact, the mud door is neatly arranged. Doing so is much more solid and sturdy than grout molding.

Good raw mineral alabaster clay has extremely good plasticity, but also has the advantage of firing is not easy to deform, the use of this special molding process, you can ensure that the size of the specifications and style has a wealth of variations. Generally speaking, as long as the design is reasonable, various styles of sand pots can be handmade molding. A kind of style stereotypes of sand pots, repeated over and over again, their specifications, shape, size can also achieve a high degree of uniformity. In fact, in the process of making sand pots, in order to facilitate the convergence of various processes, always the same style of work at the same time to produce four or six pieces, the jargon is called "a thing".

Tools for making zisha pots

In Jingdezhen, we see that workers making porcelain are hand-pulling billets; pulling billets is a traditional ceramics production techniques, the famous artist Mr. Han Meilin is based on the ancient writing of the word "Tao" for Yixing ceramics, designed a symbol, the right side seems to be a person pulling the left side of the billet, this symbol is like a person is pulling the left side of the billet, this symbol is like a person is pulling the left side of the billet. The left side of the billet, this symbol is both concise and connotative, the "Tao" Yu's hieroglyphic meaning expressed at once. Jingdezhen porcelain is mostly round, a piece of work by the molding and decoration were completed, while Yixing Zisha form a variety of forms, unless in the body of the blank carving, plastering, often by the molding workers one person to complete. Alabaster molding methods, only the production of alabaster pots up to dozens of tools, not introduced here, only a few representative of some description:

1, wood hitch: used to hit the mud strip, hit the piece. 2, sharp knife: used to cut the mouth, cut the button, turn the foot, leather small flat surface. 3, rectangular car: also known as the gauge car, as if the gauge, used to scratch the round piece, the openings; 4, castor only: mainly made of bamboo, according to the different pots made of different forms, the shape of the body. According to different pots, made of different curvature, used to organize the billet shape. 5, copper tube: drilling all kinds of holes of various sizes. 6, the top column: the molding process is completed after the addition of the bottom of the seal of the wooden special tools. 7, wooden beat: used to play the body tube, pat piece, pat mouth. 8, bamboo beat: there are small, medium and large, mainly used to shoot the body tube, push the body tube joints, swiping fat mud, push the wall to scrape the bottom of the pot to do the mouth, etc. 9, the wooden sledgeknife: can be used to cut, peeling, shu Pick, clip, dig, scrape, etc., is commonly used tools; 10, Ming needle: made of cow horn, flexible, square head, pointed, curved head, etc., mainly used for scraping the blank so that the blank body smooth You smooth, Ming needle in the ceramic industry, only the production of alabaster only to use. 11, the only one: used for the round mouth, round eyes, with flat earth and pointed two kinds of take high-quality cow horn, ivory, poplar, sandalwood production. 12, the turntable: beat the body tube when used, can turn, now more When used, can be turned, now more made of iron.

And a good Zisha artist is particularly high demand for tools, must be handy. Why purely handmade zisha pots are worth money, because the zisha pots left artists fingerprints can not be counted, after how many times the light, mo, scraping, skimming ...... artist's emotions poured into the zisha pots, never like some mechanical or semi-mechanical operation of the mud blanks so quick.