1-233-710 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Yixing teapot by Yang Pengnian, with calligraphy by Chen Mansheng, Qing dynasty, China, c1820. A Yixing purple clay teapot in the shape of a stone weight with overhead handle. Both sides of the body are inscribed with poems by Chen Mansheng otherwise known as Chen Hongshou (1768-1822) - a well-known scholar official of the time and a great patron of Yixing pottery. The calligraphy seems likely to be that of Chen Mansheng himself. The base bears the seal mark of 'The studio of a Mantou' in a square cartouche, the studio name of Chen Mansheng, while the lid is stamped with the seal mark of Yang Pengnian (fl 1796-1820), the most celebrated Yixing potter of the time. It is known that Yang and Chen co-operated to produce a number of excellent teapots in the early 19th century.