About two weeks ago I posted some pictures of yixings, categorized as “Private Collection”. The life became really busy (went to Norman, Oklahoma for a conference, and came back to face overtime hours on project deadlines… ) and I did not have time to explain what they are and why post them.
Each of them is stored in a museum-quality thick padded box, and each of them is my ultimate pride and joy as an yixing fan and collector. They are some of my very precious collections still kept in Taiwan. People who visited us in Houston should know we have some such “boxed” yixing here as well.
Every one on them is really unique. Not only their vintage, but also the clay and the craftsmanship. Like this yellow “little pear”. It was made of what collector called “huang zhu ni (yellow zhu ni)” – a kind of clay having every quality of zhu ni except it is yellow. The random red dots were genuine zhu ni splashed – yes, hand spalshed! – onto its surface. Vintage – no later than late Qing dynasty. Bottom seal – Ming Yuan.
This one is, again no later than late-Qing dynasty, duan ni of that vintage. So soft, creamy, elegant. The aesthetic level of the nature beauty of the clay is at least on a par with zhu ni of that period. I especially enjoyed using a magnifier to look into the detailed structure of this clay.
I took these pictures by a point-and-shoot Panasonic digital camera indoor with flash light, so as to keep a record myself. The quality of these pictures is surprising!
Honestly speaking, many of the yixings we offered on Hou De are already well above the level of what people can usually find in teashops in China or Taiwan. Not to mention those in the Private Collection folders – if you can find just one of the yixings that can match the level in these pictures, you can call it a lucky day.
Guang 
Anyway, happy Father’s Day! Keep working hard and stay healthy, just don’t expect too much on the gift … you know, it’s more a Mother’s Day thing.