三足云肩如意壶

English working translation

The Ring-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot and Three-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot

The "Ring-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot" is a masterpiece from Gu Jingzhou's early creative period. Its form is refined and well-proportioned, with a dignified and condensed bearing. It integrates multiple decorative techniques and forming processes into one unified whole, possessing an ancient elegance.

The "Three-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot" has a simple, flattened drum-shaped body that presents a rounded posture. Supported by three feet below, it extends the curved arc of the "Ring-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot's" body, making its bearing appear even more magnificent. The spout forms a gently curved triple bend, resembling a vigorous dragon spitting water. The ring-shaped handle is smooth and flowing, forming a unified breath with the spout. The pressed lid—both the lid body and the mouth-neck section—is decorated with echoing rope patterns, symbolizing continuous prosperity and wealth while also increasing the fit between the lid and mouth's mortise-and-tenon joint. The shoulder is adorned with applied ruyi cloud patterns and upward-radiating swirl patterns. The spout and handle are each decorated with symmetrical ruyi motifs that cleverly connect and transition with the shoulder's ruyi patterns. The finial is decorated on four sides with ruyi cloud-heads, resembling a flower bud slightly opening or a auspicious cloud in the sky, forming an upward-extending spirit that serves as the finishing touch.

The "Three-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot" has a form that is full without being bloated, plump and harmonious. Compared to Gu Jingzhou's other works, its craftsmanship is exquisite and its decoration magnificent. Within its opulent elegance lies a distinctive restraint and solemnity. The "Three-Foot Cloud-Shoulder Ruyi Teapot" is a representative work from Gu Jingzhou's cooperative society period, and this teapot style also became one of the cooperative's important product designs.