Dehua – Master Yang Shu (full name: Yang Shuzhen)

He is a ceramic artist we chanced upon during our first trip to Dehua, and in our eyes, he truly deserves the title of a genuine artist.

Dehua is world-renowned for its white porcelain. We visited numerous studios and factories, where most of the porcelain pieces we saw were either traditional white porcelain or white porcelain Buddha statues. Yet his works opened our eyes to a bold and unrestrained style of art that thrives in Dehua.

Before stepping into his studio, we merely took him for a folk craftsman. There wasn’t even a striking doorplate at the entrance of his workspace – that was until we laid eyes on his creations.

Every single one of his pieces boasts a unique beauty. Some feature worm-eaten holes, others blend the grace of mountains and rivers into their forms, and still, others embody the hardness and softness conveyed by the brushstrokes of Chinese calligraphy.

Right after admiring his works, we made an immediate decision to collect his teacups. Admittedly, his pieces don’t come cheap, and we aren’t the type to splurge a fortune on porcelain. We also had no clue about his level of fame, but his works alone made the purchase more than worthwhile.

As the day drew to a close, we sat down with him for a cup of tea. Only then did it dawn on us that he was far from an ordinary artisan – his works have won multiple awards and been collected by various galleries.

When we were about to leave, we asked him, “Why don’t you try to make yourself more famous?” He replied, “I just want to bury myself in kneading clay...”

Master Yang Shu has been engaged in the ceramic industry for nearly two decades and was among the first batch of artists in Dehua to practice wood-fired pottery. His current works mainly focus on wood-fired ceramics and the combination of wood-firing and gas-firing techniques.

🌟 All works featured on this page are fully handcrafted by the master himself, and every single piece for sale here is a one-of-a-kind original.