Unique Features of Shiwan Ceramic Sculptures

Feature One: Vivid Design

Whether it is human, animal or utensil, every single work of Shiwan ceramic sculptures possesses vivid personal traits. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, generations of craftsmen have made hundreds of Guan Yu and Zhong Kui, each one with such distinctive traits that very few repetitions can be found. Based on their own understanding of the art, craftsmen do their best to make each work a unique one in the world, never plagiarizing others. This has been one of the fine traditions of Shiwan ceramics, and over the decades since 1949, both its subject and technique have improved tremendously.

Huang Zhiwei, a heritor of Shiwan ceramic sculpture craft, is doing his artistic creation.

Feature Two: Thick and Dignified Glaze

The glazes of Shiwan ceramic sculptures are thick and heavy with dignified colors. So far, together with the crystalline glaze invented in 1963 in China, there have been more than 90 kinds of glaze colors, adding floweriness to the sculptures. Shiwan ceramics mainly use local materials and their mixed use of red and white soil material has been a symbolic divergence from other ceramics. The matching of design and color makes Shiwan sculptures more attractive and thought-provoking than others.

Huang Zhiwei's work

Feature Three: Various Producing Techniques

While maintaining and developing traditional skills, in order to meet the requirement of mass production, the producing procedures of Shiwan ceramic sculptures, such as the shaping and glazing process, have adopted modern techniques. Therefore, the furnace transmutation is another feature of Shiwan ceramic sculptures.