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| Li Shoucai and his Jun-glazed ceramic work.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
The superb ceramic making skill of a Yixing craftsman has helped him secure a place in the country's fifth batch of intangible cultural inheritor list this year.
Li Shoucai, 64, is a reputed Jun ware master who has spent some 47 years in the time-honored ceramic-making industry. He is well-known for the creation of embossed decorations on Jun-glazed potteries.
The Yixing, Jiangsu native has made key breakthroughs in the traditional craft by developing exquisite relief patterns on the potteries to enhance the visual effect on a three-dimensional level.
The creative combination of multiple pile and stick methods by Li Shoucai leads to a compelling artistic appeal, according to judges with the inheritor list released by the Ministry of Culture.
Li, who started his career as an apprentice, has now fostered 26 of his own to make sure the classic heritage will never lose its luster.
Yixing Jun-glazed pottery historically refers to the earthenware produced in the Jingshan area of Dingshu Town, Yixing, Jiangsu province in the Ming and Qing Dynasty.
The main decorative methods and features of crafts are Jun glaze and embossed decoration. There are two types of Jun-glazed pottery clay body: white and purple; and dozens of under glazes' colors.
The embossed decoration of Jun-glazed pottery also called decal is a unique earthenware decorative skill of Yixing. This craft requires the use of thumbs' and flexible fingering to "twist, twiddle, rub, tap, press" colorful earthenware clay to emboss a beautiful picture on the body of Jun-glazed pottery. Jun-glazed pottery has so many categories and fancy styling; and it is famous for its simplicity, beauty, colorful glaze and long history.
