CHEN WEIYAN (? – 1926)
Chen Weiyan was a renowned c e ramic a r t i s t i n Sh iwa n , Guangdong Province, in the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China. His hometown was in Kuilongli near the town of Shiwan. Originally a private tutor, he excelled at calligraphy and was well-cultured. In his youth, he was greatly influenced by the work of the famous Shiwan ceramic ar t ist Huang Bing. He reportedly memorised the unfinished products of Huang and afterwards made imitations, releasing them to the markets before the originals.
He once accompanied Pan Yushu and other artists to Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province in search of new techniques. He possessed a comprehensive mastery of pottery techniques and was proficient in several different styles of pottery art. Especially good at portraying human or religious figures, in the 1920s he collaborated with Pan Yushu in Guangzhou on large-scale ceramic sculptures commissioned by the Macao lawyer Manuel da Silva Mendes.
Chen Weiyan’s human figures, a n i m a l s a n d v e s s e l s a r e exquisitely detailed and rich in cultural content. He was also a gifted imitator of renowned ancient ceramic works and his imitations of the Yixing-style painting scroll holder in pine tree shape are his representative works. In the late years of the Qing dynast y and early Republic of China, such works greatly broadened the scope for Shiwan ceramic art, particularly in the emulation of ancient masterpieces.