Page 46 - For the Love of Porcelain

In this poem Guan uses clay as a metaphor
to describe their relationship. The reunion
of the different parts of clay illustrates in a
beautiful way how connected they were. It
is the visual image that our mind conjures
that makes her symbolism so strong. From
this it is clear that the poem has an erotic
connotation; the clay merges their mind and
body into one, it is the ‘fire’ between them
that makes this happen.

This poem emphasises the sensual and erotic
connotations accompanying the process
of moulding clay. Interestingly, many
contemporary artists also mention how
shaping clay to create a ceramic artwork is
not only a creative, but also a highly sensual
process. As described by the ceramics artist
Paul Mathieu: ‘…touch is the dominant
sense when it comes to working with plastic
clay (…) the eroticism of the experience,
with the wet, slippery, malleable clay
progressively raising under the touch and
pressure of the hands and fingers (…) the
fingers penetrate the yielding mass, they describe a ceramic object: a vase has a belly, 7
stretch the opening and then raise and lift you can touch its skin, it stands on a foot, Takeshi Yasuda,
14
the form to generate the desired shape’. the handles are described as ears and its neck, Sauceboat, 2003,
In the work of the Japanese artist Takeshi often on a shoulder, leads to the mouth. porcelain,
16
Yasuda this tactile use of the material is This direct connection between the body h. 12.9 cm, w. 15 cm,
clearly visible (fig. 7). The soft curves and and the material demonstrates the obvious Princessehof National
smooth glaze makes you want to touch the associations between ceramics and eroticism, Museum of Ceramics,
object, giving his work a sensual quality. 15 making it perfect as an exhibition topic in Leeuwarden,
The relationship is made even more clear the Princessehof. inv. no. MPH 2011-045
when considering the terminology used to

Notes

1 Eva Ströber, Symbols on Chinese Porcelain: Kinsey Institute’, Apollo 161 (2005), p. 66 (pp. Wassenbergh-Clarijs-Fontein Foundation.
10.000 x Happiness, Stuttgart 2011. 66–74). The Rembrandt Society has supported the
2 Only when a woman was in her most fertile 8 J.F. Cahill, Pictures for Use and Pleasure, purchase of the Kakiemon figures with their
period was a man expected to ejaculate to California 2010, pp. 175–78. thematic fund ‘Non-Western Art’.
ensure (male) offspring. 9 J.F. Cahill, ‘Meiren or Beautiful Women 13 K. Rexroth, L. Chung, Orchid Boat: Women
3 R.H. van Gulik, Sexual Life in Ancient China, Paintings: A Survey’, The Flower and the Mirror: Poets of China, New York 1972, p. 53.
Leiden 1974, pp. 46–47. Images of Women in Late Chinese Painting, 14 P. Mathieu, Sex Pots, London 2003, pp. 13, 193.
4 J.F. Cahill, Pictures for Use and Pleasure, http://jamescahill.info/the-writings-of-james- 15 http://www.paulmathieu.ca/wp-content/
California 2010, p. 196. cahill/women-in-chinese-paintings/111- uploads/2014/05/Pushing-Boundaries-the-
6 5 V. Hansen, The Open Empire: A History of China wcp-1. Accessed 22 March 2016. Pottery-of-Takeshi-Yasuda1997.pdf. Accessed
to 1600, New York/London 2000, p. 288. 10 See, for example, Bertholet 2010, pp. 60–61. 4 April 2016.
Kakiemon bijin igures, late Edo period, ca. 1670 - 90, porcelain, h. 39.3 cm
6 F.M. Bertholet, Concubines en Courtisanes, 11 F.W. Mote, Imperial China 900–1800, Harvard 16 Thanks to Nirdosh Petra van Heesbeen for
(wisteria design), 38.4 cm (maple leaf design), Brussels 2010, p. 29. 2003, p. 370. reminding me of this connection.
Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, 7 E. El-Hanany, ‘Sex in the imperial Garden: An 12 With generous support from the Rembrandt
Unpublished Chinese Pillow Book in the Society, Mondriaan Foundation and
inv. nos. PH2016-001 & PH 2016-002
42 I vormen uit vuur vormen uit vuur I 43