Yixing ware

The stoneware of Yixing in Jiangsu province was known in the West as Buccaro, or Boccaro, ware and was copied and imitated at Meissen, Germany; at Staffordshire, England; and in the Netherlands by Ary de Milde and others. Its teapots were much valued in 17th-century Europe, where tea…

…emerged in the town of Yixing, on the western side of Lake Tai, catering to the tea taste of scholars in the nearby Suzhou area. Individually made, sometimes to order, rather than mass-produced, Yixing wares were often signed or even poetically inscribed by highly reputable master craftsmen, such as Shi…

The kilns of Yixing also continued making the traditional wares.

…imported Chinese stoneware teapots from I-hsing kilns (see below China: Ming dynasty), led to attempts to imitate both kinds. The first patent for making copies of porcelain and Cologne ware known to have been exercised was awarded to John Dwight (c. 1637–1703) of Fulham in 1671. In addition to German…

…to Europe stoneware made in Yixing, in Jiangsu province; red to dark brown in colour, it was unglazed but cut, faceted, and polished. Yixing (or, as it was called in Europe, boccaro) wine pots were highly prized in Europe for making tea, which had been newly introduced; the ware was…