Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics 潜山天柱陶瓷
Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics is the firm behind Doumu pottery, made at Doumu township in Qianshan, Anhui, where official materials record pottery being worked from more than 5,000 years ago and dates the brand's own line to 1861. It makes hand-built pottery — cups, dishes, bowls, jars, and figures — fired in a wood-burning dragon kiln, and the Doumu pottery firing technique was inscribed on China's fifth national intangible cultural heritage list in 2021. The brand is an Anhui Time-honored Brand, designated in 2022.
Source
Official materials published by Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics Co., Ltd.
- Founded
- 1861
- Origin
- Qianshan Anhui, China
- Category
- 陶瓷烧制
- Status
- Anhui Time-honored Brand
- Designated
- 2022-03-01 Ministry of Commerce
The House, in Full
The House
Doumu pottery is made at Doumu township in Qianshan, Anhui, across the river from Tianzhu Mountain. Official materials record that local people found clay there more than 5,000 years ago, built kilns against the slopes with workshops around them, and worked the clay into vessels; at its height as many as ten thousand people were in the trade, and pottery was for a time a main export of the region. A poem by Li Bai names Shuzhou's — present-day Qianshan's — clay cup and wine-warmer.
The county gazetteer records that by the Ming and Qing the township was an established pottery base, and that the seat of the local government is still called "Xiaoyaotou" — the little kiln head. In the mid-18th century a potter surnamed Shi opened a workshop on the hill behind Lida Wu and took pupils, and by the 1850s kiln households covered a radius of about fifty kilometres. In 1861 production came down to a single workshop, at Hongjiawa; eight households — among them Sun Guoyong and Chu Shuisheng — then shared the work, each shaping bodies separately and firing them in the same kiln in turn, an arrangement that lasted until 1949.
In 1953 the potters pooled the eight shares into a collective works; in 1954 the county government sent advisers to help set up the factory, which became the state-run Doumu Pottery Factory in 1957. In the decades after, the works was moved, split, and merged with the township's other pottery operations.
On restructuring in 2000 it became Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics Co., Ltd., and it was renamed when the county became a city in 2020. The Doumu Gutao trademark was applied for in 2013 and approved in 2015, and the brand name moved from Doumu ceramics to Doumu ancient pottery. In 2021 the State Council inscribed the Doumu pottery firing technique on the fifth national intangible cultural heritage list, and the company was named a national protection unit for the project by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; in 2022 the Anhui Department of Commerce recognized Doumu Gutao as an Anhui Time-honored Brand.
What They Make
The house works the Doumu tradition by hand: cups, dishes, bowls, and spoons shaped on the wheel; larger jars and vessels built up by the coiling method (panniao panzhu); lettering and ornament carved into the body before firing; and decorative pieces including figures and glazed roof tiles. Firing is in a wood-burning dragon kiln. The working steps and the kiln's firing stages are set out on the Doumu pottery craft page.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1861 | Doumu pottery production comes down to a single workshop, at Hongjiawa |
| 1957 | The works becomes the state-run Doumu Pottery Factory |
| 2000 | Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics Co., Ltd. is established |
| 2015 | The Doumu Gutao trademark is approved |
| 2021 | The Doumu pottery firing technique enters the fifth national intangible cultural heritage list |
| 2022 | Recognized as an Anhui Time-honored Brand |
Passing It On
The company runs production, marketing, and training teams. Twenty expert technicians have taught on site, and the workshop counts ten inheritors at provincial, municipal, and county level, two first-class technicians, and one Anhui Arts and Crafts Master.
Source: official materials published by Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics Co., Ltd. Translated and condensed from the house's own record; no information has been added.
Sources
Historical facts on this page come from Official materials published by Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics Co., Ltd. Designation recorded 2022-03-01. This page is editorial content; it is not a product listing and nothing here is an offer for sale.
Independence. Time-Honored Goods is an independent multi-brand store. We are not the official site of Qianshan Tianzhu Ceramics, and we do not speak for the house. See Independence & Sourcing.