exquisitely potted of rich reddish-brown stoneware suffused with quartz to create the 'pear-skin' appearance, the facetted compressed globular body set with a curved spout and a loop handle at the angled shoulders, the raised flat cover surmounted by a semi-circular looped knop, inscribed to the exterior in ancient script with an inscription reading 'Shutao made this hu vessel to be treasured and used for ever' and dated Jiaqing yihai year (corresponding to 1815), the base of the handle impressed with a square seal reading Pengnian, the base impressed with a square seal reading Amantuoshi

Y.F. Yang, Hong Kong, 1978.

Paul Moss, 'I-Hsing-Tea-Taste', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, vol. 10, no. 3, September 1978, p. 9, fig. 14.

On the edge of the cover there is a minor area of approx 1cm which appears to have been touched up, probably to cover a minor flake. There is a shallow 0.2cm nick to the interior of the mouth of the teapot. Otherwise good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This exceptional teapot is of documentary importance in encapsulating the literati approach to teapot appreciation in the early 19th century. Commissioned and designed by Chen Mansheng, it was created by the master potter Yang Pengnian and inscribed by Guo Lin, a famous artist, calligrapher and associate. The extensive inscription intricately incised in kaishu records that the piece was made to commemorate a literati tea-tasting party that took place at the Hall of Interlocking Mulberry, the official residence of Chen Mansheng at Liyang in the autumn of Jiaqing yihai year (1815)  and the names of the fifteen literati who attended. The shoulder is also inscribed with an elegant inscription in bronze seal script.

Chen Mansheng (1768-1822), better known as Chen Hongshou, was a well-known painter and scholar originally from Qiantang in Zhejiang province, appointed to the post of magistrate of Liyang around 1812, where he stayed for three years. During his post, Chen Mansheng initiated a revival of the status of Yixing master potters by commissioning a large number of wares that he would then sell or give away. Not only did Chen encourage the industry by commissioning wares, he also developed new teapot designs to cater to the aesthetic taste of the period, and encouraged potters and collectors to inscribe or impress their names on their pieces. K.S. Lo in 'The Chronological Development of Yixing Zisha Ware Seen Through the Dated Pieces', Yixing Pottery, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 48, notes that 'There can be no question that Mansheng's influence on the development of the zisha teapot had a far-reaching effect'.

The fifteen literati listed in attendance at the party were: Jiang Tingxiang; Qian Shumei; Niu Feishi; Zhang Laojiang; Lu Xiaofu; Zhu Litang; Zhang Shengya; Shi Xinluo; Gao Xiquan; Shi Lantang; Gao Wuzhuang; Miu Langfu; Sun Zhongpi; Shen Chunluo and Lu Xingqing. It is likely that a number of commemorative teapots were made, possibly for all those who attended the party, and others are recorded, including an identical teapot from the collection of K.S. Lo, included in the exhibition I-Hsing Ware, China House Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 17, and illustrated in K.S. Lo, Yixing: From the Ming Period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 64, pl. XXX1, and discussed on p.107, where the author extols the sheer level of importance in the inscriptions, a 'who's who of scholars and artists of the period', and notes how Guo Lin (Guo Pinjia) demonstrated his skill by carving the archaic bronze-style inscription on the shoulder of the teapot in dazhuang script Shutao zuo hu qi yong bao yong ('Shutao made this hu vessel to be treasured and used for eve♉r').

Guo Lin, renowned as a calligrapher especially in the distinctive diagonally accented manner of Huang Tingjian, was employed as Chen Mansheng’s secretary at his official residence in Liyang. Of the fifteen literati listed on the inscription, several of them are clearly identifiable as famous figures in Mansheng’s circle and key members of the literati movement. Additional time and research would undoubtedly enable indepth information about those mentioned, but it is certainly worth noting that among those present, Qian Shumei, for instance, was the style name of Qian Du (1764–1844), the famous eccentric artist, who, as Wan-go Weng notes in ‘The World in the Teapot’ in I-Hsing Ware, China House Gallery, New York, 1977, p. 90, was a close associate of Chen Man♋sheng and Guo Lin, with three entries for Chen and one entry for Guo in his volume of collected paintings.  

Another teapot of this distinct flattened cylindrical form, considered by K.S. Lo to derive from an earlier prototype by Shi Dabin, illustrated ibid., p. 56, pl. XVIII, similarly commissioned by Chen Mansheng and made by Yang Pengnian, but lacking the inscription, formerly in the collections of Pang Yuanji and Thomas Y.P. Lee, illustrated in Zisha. The Purple Sand of China, New York, 2005, pl. 12, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st Dec🐈embe🦩r 2010, lot 3096.