Teapot and Cover: Handmade Stoneware from China Essay
Part 1 is done, do part 2 only.
Please read the feedback for the part1, and read part 1 proposal
1 FAH 394 Sand, Stone, Gold and Crystal: Materials and Materiality of Asian Art Culminating Project: A Material Biography of an Asian Artifact Displayed in Toronto Deadlines: • Proposal (worth 10% of final grade) due February 26th (2 pages of writing, plus images in further pages). • In-class presentation (worth 15% of final grade) done in person in class on March 23rd or March 30th • Paper (8-10 pages or comparable, worth 30% of final grade) due April 2nd Guidelines: This is a class about the historic arts of Asia and how we can better understand them by looking at them through the lens of specific materials. How are Asian arts shaped by specific material technologies? Why are particular materials invested with value and meaning? How are these technologies “enchanted”? In this course we are interested in the processes of shaping materials into objects (physical) and their elevation into being things of value (ideological), and the changes of meaning and association that they endure in their processes of formation, ownership, preservation and/or eventual decay. For this class project I want you to create a material biography (life story) of a specific artifact, and this will be a creative task that departs from a usual research paper format, though it will culminate in something that is roughly 8-10 double spaced pages of writing (or 2,000-2,500 words). I encourage writing it in the form of a set of moments (impetus, creation, choosing form, using, discarding, gifting, collecting) or a set of letters between people who made, saw or used the object you choose, and also invite you, if you wish, to create an experimental tool (a handson “making” activity, or to try to reproduce some part of the object yourself, to be shared or partially shared during the presentations) to better understand or imagine a point in this object’s biography. First, pick an Asian art object currently on display at the ROM: Any object from the China, Korea, South Asia or Asia Pacific galleries that you find interesting and that you want to engage with on a deeper level. The ROM is free on Tuesdays for postsecondary students (show your UTORid) or Fridays after 4pm. Your proposal (due Feb 26th) will identify the object you choose and include photographs of this object and its label. In your two-page proposal you will describe: what object you choose and what material(s) it is made from? What are the moments of the known or imagined biography of this object from raw material stuff to the artifact sitting in a museum that you will bring out in your paper? What are the historic moments you will emphasize or imagine? Who are the human and material agents? Lastly, what resources have you found to better understand the object of 2 these materials. This should take the form of an annotated bibliography of three sources that you have found so far. Your presentation should be 8 minutes in class time and include the use of images in PowerPoint. You should distinguish the things you know about the object and its material(s) and the facts of its “real life” (known through the museum’s information or the research you have done about this object), from things you must make an educated or informed guess about for this final project. You will not have time to present about every moment of the object’s biography, but should instead focus on telling the class a story about a moment when the object transitioned and its meaning and value was renegotiated as a result. If you can find or show a creative way of engaging with this moment, all the better. In your writing of your object biography, this piece of writing does not need to have a thesis, and can have many discrete sections, but should add up to approximately 8-10 double spaced pages of writing (or 2,000-2,500 words. This writing tells a story of a process over time, you are telling a story of transitions of value and meaning—when did the raw “stuff” become honed and made and then understood differently in the processes of formation, ownership, use and current preservation or display of this piece. This final piece of writing is an informed piece of creative writing, though it should be accompanied by a bibliography of things you read to better understand the material/time/place. As a final addendum to this writing project, also write a short “postcard” to one of the theorists we read for this course to tell them how their ideas did or did not make sense after your close and thoughtful examination of your one object. Your creative writing should be accompanied by a set of endnotes, organized by section, that explain and contextualize your choices in relation to your bibliographic sources. And have fun with it! Good luck!
Teapot and Cover: Handmade Stoneware from China
A Material Biography
Student’s Name:
Student’s ID:
Instructor’s Name:
The Teapot and Cover is one of the fascinating artifacts displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum. It is described as handmade stoneware from Yixing Xian, Jiangsu Province, China. It is made circa 1867-1923 AD during the Qing dynasty. It has a dimension of 6.8 x 18.3 x 13.4 centimeters. The artifact is golden in color and has an interesting form. It has an irregular round body, a creative lid and handle, and a short spout. The history of tea, particularly leaf tea, provides the impetus for the creation of teapots. On the other hand, its form isn’t quite as original and has taken shape from the spouted vessels that have been around in China for thousands of years. The emperors during the dynasty it is believed to be made are also notable and might have influenced the design and medium of this artifact. Finally, the distribution or export of Chinese teapots is an important reason of its preservation and influence.
The Tea and the Teacup
According to Cambridge University Press (2020), a teapot is defined as a container with a handle and a spout for making and serving tea. Hence, to understand the creation of teapots, such as the artifact Teapot and Cover, it is imperative to review the history of tea.
Camellia sinensis, or commonly known as tea tree, is an evergreen small tree whose leaves are used to make tea. All teas – white, yellow, green, oolong, black and fermented – come from the same tree; except herbal teas (Tkalec, 2017).
The oldest tea tree is found in Jinxiu Village, Yunnan Province, China. It is famously known as the Jinxiu Tea King and estimated to be more than 3000 years old. It is also believed that this is the largest ancient tea tree in the world (Travelife Magazine, 2020).
It is believed that tea was discovered over 5000 years ago by Emperor Shennong, one of the three god-kings that ruled prehistoric China. Emperor Shennong is considered to have taught the Chinese the practice of agriculture, the use of herbal drugs, the application of plant-based medicine, and acupuncture, and today, remains the patron deity of farmers and traditional Chinese medicine experts. The story of tea says that Emperor Shennong was sitting under a tree when the leaves from the tree fell into the vessel where his servant was boiling drinking water. It is said that the water turned brown, making the new liquid interesting; hence out of curiosity, the emperor tried it and found it refreshing (Strom, 2017).
However, this story remains a legend; whereas in reality, it is not until the Tang (618 -907 AD) dynasty that drinking tea became a national custom and the earliest archeological record about tea, written circa 760 AD, is found in Lu Yu’s The Book of Tea. Lu Yu is a writer, who recognized tea as a work of art. He discusses in his book where tea is found and produced, how to identify and choose it, and what is the best way of preparing it (Pratt, 2007).
The history of tea in China may be explained through its three forms, with phases of brewing techniques – boiling, whipping, and steeping – that are partly overlapping. Firstly, t...
π Other Visitors are Viewing These APA Essay Samples:
- Letting Wild Animals Remain in the Wild, and Refraining People from Supporting Zoos1 page/β275 words | No Sources | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Theorist2 pages/β550 words | 1 Source | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Thanksgiving and Lunar New Year Writing Assignment 1 page/β550 words | No Sources | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Romeo and Juliet: Film Evaluation and Peer Reviews2 pages/β550 words | No Sources | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Mododo Compact Car Air Purifier - Purification Equipment5 pages/β1375 words | 1 Source | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Creating Strategic Value in HR1 page/β275 words | 4 Sources | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |
- Environment1 page/β275 words | No Sources | APA | Literature & Language | Essay |