《苍松凝瑞》~ 台西老青灰段 "Cāng Sōng Nǐng Ruì" in Tai Xi Lao Qing Hui Duan.
launched and signed as "孤品" meaning world's solitary piece in Tai Xi Lao Qing Hui (Duan Ni) 台西老青灰段泥*,
by YiXing's Top Ornate Class Artist L4 Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei 张雪磊, 助理工艺美术师。

This, a striking, handsome new Ornate Class design by Zhang Xue Lei: it is low, sleek with a forward-pointing rhomboid side profile, exhibiting extreme presence on the tea table. Appreciate Zhang Xue Lei's signature savoir-faire at home daily!



YiXing Ornate Prodigy Artists Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei has again, painstakingly designed THIS NEW《苍松凝瑞》Cang Song Ning Rui, 159.3ml, launching here as the solitary piece in a Tai Xi Lao Qing Hui Duan special clay. Our Cao Family presents to him, our family's 台西矿 Tai Xi Quarry 老青灰 Lao Qing Hui (Duan Ni type), for crafting this stunning new work.

First, we go through the Meaning of:《苍松凝瑞》Cāng Sōng Nǐng Ruì,
苍松:苍老有劲的松树,象征坚韧、长寿、风骨,对应壶的松桩器型,树皮虬曲、枝干苍劲的质感。
凝:汇聚、蕴蓄,把气韵、吉气收拢在壶器之上。
瑞:祥瑞、吉兆,福气、好运。
Ornate Class Prodigy Zhang Xue Lei designed this NEW Ornate class work as a stunning section of a PINE TREE, for PINE TREE is highly regarded together with Bamboos and Plum Blossoms as the Pine Tree stays green throughout Winter. It stands as our Chinese symbol of Integrity and Strength.
Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei named this work beautifully《 苍松凝瑞》 Cāng Sōng Nǐng Ruì, to inspire the user and guests to cultivate strength, enduring strength, to bless and bestow the owner with properity and good fortunes!
Presenting to you Friends!!!
~《苍松凝瑞》"Cang Song Ning Rui"
孤品 Gu Pin ~ Solitary piece in 台西 老青灰 ~ Tai Xi Lao Qing Hui means THAT MEANS ZHANG XUE LEI will not make another《苍松凝瑞》"Cāng Sōng Nǐng Ruì" in the same clay, to safeguard your investment and to make you very proud of its solitary piece status, in Chinese Art circles, we call it: 孤品 Gu Pin, that unique, special and solitary piece.
More exclusive than a Birkin Himalaya or Rolex Daytona, candidly, and this exclusivity is what we love and wish to emphasize to all our dearest lucky patrons!
Congratulations to our fortunate dear Friend and Owner of this piece in advance.
Master Zhang Xue Lei's chosen two stanzas as calligraphed on the certificate are:
苍桩凝翠蕴砂光
苍桩:苍老有力的松桩,就是这把壶模拟的松桩本体
凝翠:凝聚松柏苍翠的气韵,不是真的绿色,是器物带出苍松郁郁的意境
蕴砂光:内里蕴藏紫砂特有的温润哑光砂质光泽,是泥料本身的质感。
虬干蟠枝缀果香
虬干:虬,弯曲劲健。指苍劲扭曲、饱经风霜的松树干。
蟠枝:蟠是盘绕回旋,枝干蜿蜒盘曲交错。
缀果:枝头点缀松果(松塔),壶身雕刻的装饰。
香:并非现实果香,是想象的松木清芬气韵,借纹饰生出意境。
echoing the name of the work 《苍松凝瑞》!


Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei purposely created this DELIGHTFUL, USABLE and equally astonishing, more austere-looking Ornate Work! We applaud his month's work for this application and contribution to all our Friends' wishes to have a more "zen" looking, "less extravagant" Ornate piece, but still extracting Ornate MAESTRO Zhang Xue Lei's amazing Artistic mind, stellar savoir-faire and exquisite craftsmanship! Magnificent Ornate works of the highest finesse. Zhang Xue Lei always say, "I will never let a work that I cannot be 1000% proud of, leave my studio." Beyond Zhang Xue Lei's larger works due to our patrons' requests in China, Zhang has started crafting these smaller pieces, that are RIGHT on the usable volumes for more modern families, two friends' gathering, and GUNGFU ONE TO TWO PAX STEEPING practice, AND, FULLY SHOWCASING his skills in an Ornate work worthy of Museum standards and donations.
Savour all of Associate Master Zhang Xue Lei's collection:
https://www.realzisha.com/collections/%E5%BC%A0%E9%9B%AA%E7%A3%8A-%E5%8A%A9%E7%90%86%E5%B7%A5%E8%89%BA%E7%BE%8E%E6%9C%AF%E5%B8%88-zhang-xue-lei-level4-assistant-master-artist
Being of our RealZiSha Family and our Cao Family, it is also presented in our bespoke Fine Casework for the fortunate Owner!

This is our Cao Family's precious stock of Tai Xi quarry: Lao Qing Hui Duan Ni, handed to Zhang Xue Lei for this ZiSha work,
Senior Master Cao Lan Fang's husband and Clay Specialist Mr Zhang Yun Long, fires it at 1220degC to gain an even more rustic grayish tone.





Congratulations to the fortunate owner to own this clay too!
Again, get to appreciate this stupendous Ornate Class work, be awed by its extreme presence on the tea table for it is low, sleek with a pointed and handsome rhomboid side profile, and use and handle Zhang Xue Lei's superb savoir-faire DAILY at home,



Ornate Handle,




This Tree Section Body that is carefully crafted and patted into shape by Prodigy Master Zhang Xue Lei:
What is convex on the outside, is concave on the inside.
There is NO low skilled patching or adding of clay on the outside to create the protruding features of the tree.
Rather, Master Zhang Xue Lei, being a masterful Artist: after CAREFUL DESIGN, has the master plan in his head, and intentionally, during patting the clay slab 360, has a clear destination in his mind of WHERE the convexities will be, where the concavities will be.
Full photos of the paired: convex~concave outside-inside photos, shown withint the 202 photo collection of this Artwork piece here.
Another gruelling aspect of Ornate work, Xue Lei coaxing each part slowly to accommodate the feature on the outside which he will craft and sculpt up! No extraneous clays. All delicately and strongly featured.
Painstaking planning in design, preparation and crafting.
Shown are some of the paired examples:
A:


B:



C:


D:


Even at the bottom of the handle to greatly lessen the mass of this work, enabling extremely easy handling. One gripe of Ornate works elsewhere which are poorly conceived and poorly crafted (rather lacking savoir-faire), is that they are heavy due to too much mass.
You can rest assured to own the best, with ALL of Zhang Xue Lei's Ornate works.


Ornate Spout:


The Ultra TIGHT Qian Gai 嵌盖 INTERFACE:









Beyond Zhang Xue Lei's larger works according to our patrons' requests in China, Zhang has also started crafting these smaller pieces, that are PERFECTLY RIGHT on the usable volumes for gungfu steepings for one to two persons. Primed to suit many people's request for something usable for one, two people's tea savouring session, more austere looking, still bearing his trademark savoir-faire, ingenuity and intricacy, showcasing his skills in a precious Ornate work worthy in future of Museum standards and donations.
Zhang Xue Lei's《傲骨撼冬》"Ao Gu Han Dong"! Dear Patron, thank you, and after receipt of this work, chat with him on Streamyard! Show it on your tea table! He will both blush and yet be glad and proud too!
Tea Culture: Tea + Fully-Handmade ZiSha.
Welcome, as we travel this exciting, fulfilling and enlivening journey of the Chinese culture!
Being of our RealZiSha Family and our Cao Family, it is also presented in our bespoke Fine Casework for the fortunate Owner!
Congratulations to the Owner to endow his or her tea table with famous Zhang Xue Lei’s piece of Fine Art!
https://www.realzisha.com/collections/%E5%BC%A0%E9%9B%AA%E7%A3%8A-%E5%8A%A9%E7%90%86%E5%B7%A5%E8%89%BA%E7%BE%8E%E6%9C%AF%E5%B8%88-zhang-xue-lei-level4-assistant-master-artist
For all our esteemed Patrons' information, Zhang Xue Lei only crafts Ornate works 花器. He does not craft 光器Austere (e.g. Xi Shi, Fang Gu)/ 方器 Polygonal/ 筋囊器 Segmental-Corollary works for sale. If you Google and trawl the net, and you find Austere/pure Polygonal/Segmental-Corollary pots "made by Zhang Xue Lei" sold by other retailers, they are all false. Even if these pots bear "his stamp", they are not his works. Avoid. They are all duds (jigger-machined pots or half-handmade factory-line products stamped with Counterfeit Stamps). And such stamps and certificates from these retailers are faked. Such Chinese sites of bogus retailers are ubiquitous. If they are prevalent in China, imagine all the cookie-cut sites in English language currently online and designed to dupe the Westerners. With AI, such sites can be drafted up really fast, and many retailers cookie-cut and paste photos from Taobao, where they get their central source jigger-machined pots from. These sources have centralised photo-taking by the sourcing factory, and then distributed to their retailers.
Again, we reiterate, Zhang Xue Lei does not craft Austere/Polygonal/Segmental-Corollary pots for sale. He only crafts Ornate Class works, and he only avails them with us at RealZiSha.
Imitation is the best form of flattery/acknowledgement.
Zhang Xue Lei is famous, highly recognised here in our YiXing fraternity.
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For the same reasons that many factories and retailers sell fake "ZiSha" pots using NON-ZISHA cheap and ubiquitous ceramic clays, there are COUNTLESS fake "ZiSha" Ornate pots like this "Sui Han San You" model on the market, littering everywhere, BECAUSE NON-ZISHA CERAMIC CLAYS ARE MUCH, MUCH MORE EASIER TO WORK WITH, CRAFT WITH AND SCULPT WITH. We can bring you when you are here in YiXing, to witness the countless non-zisha ornate works in shops and tourists spots.
ZISHA is the most difficult ceramic material to work with, not less, fire with success. THIS TRUE, FULLY-HANDMADE "AO GU HAN DONG" MODEL CRAFTED WITH AUTHENTIC YIXING ZISHA, AND BY THE TOP ORNATE PRODIGY OF OUR YIXING FRATERNITY, IS FOR THE TOTALLY DISCERNING. And in so doing, brew the best teas in this Fully-Handmade YiXing ZiSha work. The BEST TASTING Teas.
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