This hexagonal teapot have has an eared handle, a short curving spout and an hexagonal domed lid. A honeycomb-and-flower motif is pierced into each facet of the bodies; the lid is also reticulated. It is painted with flowers and diaper patterns in overglaze pink, bright yellow, purple, green, and lavender-blue.
A nearly identical example is in the Chitra collection (inv. 72).
A pair of famille rose teapots of this form, from the Robert Lehman Collection, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York (Object Number: 1975.1.1706).
These pieces of intricately reticulated porcelain are known in Chinese as linglong or guigong (devil’s work). It refers to pierced or carved-through designs created either by hand (carving or cutting) or with molds. Often, there are two layers: an outer pierced layer and an inner solid wall that holds liquid or forms the actual structure.
Reticulated porcelain is difficult to produce. it requires precise carving before firing, when the porcelain is “leather-hard.” It must survive both the drying and firing processes without collapsing or warping.
Pierced or openwork ceramics (not necessarily porcelain) appeared as early as the Song dynasty (960–1279) in other ceramics like celadon or stoneware. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a number of new and refined ornemental techniques were employed on porcelains made in Jingdezhen. One of them is an extremely fine technique of reticulation, known in Chinese as linglong or guigong (devil’s work). The term linglong is originally derived from an onomatopoeic phrase describing the tinkling of jade ornaments.
