紫砂花器自明清兴起，以摹写自然草木生灵为核心意趣，将山野生机凝于砂器方寸之间，清代制壶名家陈明远尤擅仿生塑器，其树桩题材作品历来为文博界与资深藏家所珍视。本件陈明远制段泥树桩松鼠供春壶，是完整传世的清代名家原生紫砂遗存，集仿生树桩肌理、松鼠花叶立体塑作、古法段泥炼制工艺于一体，完整承载清代江南文人崇尚自然的茶事审美、仿生紫砂造器体系，兼具工艺美术考据价值、茶文化文史价值与顶级名家紫砂收藏品级，是梳理清代中期仿生花器发展脉络、陈明远个人制壶风格的标准实物标本。
Floral purple clay wares rose from the Ming and Qing dynasties, centering on imitating natural plants and creatures to condense mountain wilderness vitality into small clay vessels. Chen Mingyuan, a renowned potter of the Qing Dynasty, excelled at bionic sculptural teapots, and his tree-stump themed works have long been treasured by cultural institutions and senior collectors. This Duan-clay gongchun-style teapot with tree stump and squirrel ornament crafted by Chen Mingyuan is an intact handed-down original purple clay relic of the Qing master. It integrates bionic tree bark texture, three-dimensional squirrel and leaf sculpture, and ancient Duan clay refining craft, fully embodying the nature-oriented tea aesthetic of Jiangnan literati and the bionic purple clay production system in the Qing Dynasty. It boasts extraordinary arts and crafts research value, tea cultural historical value and top-tier collection grade of master purple clay wares, serving as a standard physical specimen for sorting the development of mid-Qing bionic floral wares and Chen Mingyuan’s exclusive pottery style.
整器取老树枯桩为整体造型，通体仿生肌理层次丰富，尽显陈明远炉火纯青的立体塑作功底。壶身完全摹仿老树表皮凹凸斑驳的原生肌理，周身布满细碎坑洼树皮纹，深浅刀刻模拟树木历经风霜的皴裂脉络，转折起伏自然灵动，毫无刻意雕琢的生硬感；壶身外壁塑贴舒展枝叶与小松鼠点缀，藤蔓叶片纹路细腻写实，与树桩本体相融共生。壶盖随树桩弧度起伏，盖面复刻树皮质感，盖钮塑卧姿松鼠，身形灵动乖巧，五官、爪足刻画细致入微，为全器点睛之笔；一侧执把塑成弯曲枝蔓形态，卷曲自然贴合手掌，另一侧短直流仿断枝造型，出水流畅稳当，流、把、松鼠钮三者呼应老树主题，比例均衡协调。全器舍弃规整几何轮廓，以山野古木为创作本源，将自然野趣与泡茶实用功能浑然相融，完美契合清代文人追求天人合
The whole vessel takes aged withered tree stump as its integral form, with abundant layered bionic texture all over the surface, fully demonstrating Chen Mingyuan’s consummate three-dimensional sculpting skill. The pot body fully imitates the uneven native texture of old tree bark, covered with fine pitted bark grains, and deep and shallow carved lines simulate weathered tree cracks with natural, vivid undulations free of rigid artificial carving. Stretched branches, leaves and small squirrels are molded and attached to the outer wall, with delicate realistic vein lines blending perfectly with the stump body. The lid undulates following the stump’s radian, replicating bark texture, and the knob is shaped as a crouching squirrel with vivid delicate carving of facial features and paws, the finishing highlight of the whole ware. The handle is shaped as a curved vine branch that fits the palm comfortably, while the short spout imitates a broken twig for smooth steady water flow. The spout, handle and squirrel knob echo the ancient tree theme with balanced proportional layout. Abandoning regular geometric outlines, the vessel draws creative inspiration from wild old trees, seamlessly merging natural rustic charm and practical tea brewing function, perfectly matching the literati spiritual aesthetic of harmony between man and nature and longing for mountain seclusion in the Qing Dynasty.
器物选用珍稀本山段泥炼制而成，胎质肌理完整留存清代古法炼泥的原生风貌，岁月传世包浆温润厚重。此壶泥料取自宜兴深层本山段矿，经反复淘洗、陈腐、捶炼多道古法工序，胎体细腻疏松，砂粒分布柔和均匀，呈现温润浅金黄段泥独有的柔和光泽。数百年来经无数次茶汤浸润、人手长久摩挲，器身形成层层递进的自然老包浆，浆色顺着树皮凹凸肌理深浅渐变，缓缓渗入砂胎细微孔隙，包浆内敛沉静，肌理沧桑柔和，所有岁月痕迹皆随时光自然积淀，不存在人工修饰、人为做旧的痕迹。段泥本身质地疏松透气，极宜涵养茶香，是明清文人追捧的上等泡茶泥料，这件藏品泥料成色纯粹，风化沁色均匀，完整保留清代中段泥烧制紫砂独有的温润质朴质感。
The vessel is refined from rare native Duan clay, whose body texture fully preserves the original style of ancient Qing clay refining craft, with thick mild aged patina accumulated over centuries of handed-down collection. The clay ore is deep native Duan material mined in Yixing, processed through multiple ancient procedures of repeated elutriation, aging and pounding, forming fine loose body with evenly distributed soft sand grains and the unique mild luster of pale golden Duan clay. After hundreds of years of tea soup infiltration and long-term hand rubbing, layered natural aged patina covers the whole ware, with gradient color following the uneven bark texture and seeping gently into tiny pores of the clay body. The restrained quiet patina bears soft vicissitude, all temporal traces accumulating naturally over time without artificial modification or aging treatment. Loose and breathable Duan clay is ideal for retaining tea aroma, ranking among top-tier brewing clay favored by Ming and Qing literati. This collection features pure clay tone and even weathering infiltration, fully preserving the mild rustic texture exclusive to mid-Qing purple clay fired from Duan ore.
壶底落标准方形篆书陈明远私印款识，款刻工整有力，是辨识其手作器物的核心凭证，完整串联起泥料、塑工、款识三位一体的时代工艺体系。壶底平整修削，周边刻划数道树皮木纹与壶身主题统一，正中方形印章篆刻 “陈明远制” 四字篆书，笔画挺拔规整，刀法沉稳老道，为陈明远专属落款制式，与馆藏同类传世器物款型笔法完全契合。清代中期紫砂名家皆以私印落款标记手作，陈明远尤重款识法度，印面深浅均匀，字口清晰无漫漶磨损，历经数百年埋藏传世依旧完整分明。从矿泥甄选、仿生立体塑作、树皮肌理刀刻，到底款篆刻落款，全器工艺流程一脉相承，细节处处呼应清代中期宜兴花器紫砂的生产特征，是研究陈明远仿生制壶技法、清代段泥紫砂工艺不可多得的标准实物范本。
A standard square seal script private mark of Chen Mingyuan is carved on the pot base with neat powerful strokes, the core evidence to identify his handcrafted wares, completely linking the integrated era craft system of clay material, sculpting work and seal inscription. The base is smoothly trimmed, with several carved bark grain lines surrounding to unify with the vessel’s tree theme. The four seal script characters “Made by Chen Mingyuan” are engraved in the central square seal with straight regular strokes and steady mature carving technique, the exclusive marking format of Chen Mingyuan, fully consistent with seal style and brushwork of similar handed-down wares preserved in cultural institutions. Mid-Qing master potters marked handcrafted works with private seals, and Chen Mingyuan attached great importance to seal regulations, with even carving depth and distinct character edges free of blurring and abrasion, remaining intact and clear after hundreds of years of circulation and storage. From ore selection, three-dimensional bionic sculpting, bark texture carving to base seal engraving, the whole vessel follows a coherent craft process, with every detail echoing production characteristics of mid-Qing Yixing floral purple clay wares, a rare standard physical model for researching Chen Mingyuan’s bionic pottery skills and Duan clay craft in the Qing Dynasty.
数百载岁月流转，这件陈明远树桩松鼠段泥紫砂壶跨越时光完整留存，是清代仿生花器紫砂领域极具代表性的传世重器。清代中期文人茶风兴盛，仿生花器摆脱实用器具的单一属性，成为文房清供赏藏兼备的雅物，陈明远深耕仿生紫砂赛道，以枯木、走兽、花叶入壶，把山林野趣搬进茶席，开创独树一帜的自然塑壶风格。温润段泥封存数百年茶汤滋养的清雅气韵，斑驳树皮肌理藏匠人摹写自然的细腻匠心，灵趣松鼠塑钮寄托古人顺遂富足的美好祈愿，规整底款定格一代紫砂名家的创作印记。它早已超越泡茶器具的基础功用，是串联清代宜兴紫砂矿料工艺、仿生花器创作、文人山林茶文化的珍贵高古遗存，静静诉说紫砂史上师法自然、匠艺融情的千年文脉，让今人透过温润斑驳的古砂肌理，触摸清代紫砂炉火之上独有的山野诗意与人文巧思。
After hundreds of years of time flow, this Duan clay tree-stump squirrel teapot by Chen Mingyuan has been fully preserved through ages, serving as a highly representative handed-down treasure among mid-Qing bionic floral purple clay wares. Tea culture flourished among literati in the mid-Qing Dynasty, and bionic floral wares broke away from the single attribute of practical utensils, evolving into elegant ornaments for study appreciation and collection. Chen Mingyuan devoted himself to bionic purple clay creation, integrating withered wood, beasts and leaves into teapots to bring mountain wilderness charm to tea tables, pioneering an exclusive natural sculpting pottery style. The mild Duan clay preserves elegant tea fragrance nurtured by hundreds of years of tea soup, mottled bark texture holds the delicate ingenuity of the craftsman imitating nature, the lively squirrel knob embodies ancient people’s auspicious wishes for prosperity, and the neat base seal freezes the creative mark of a generation of purple clay masters. Far beyond the basic function of tea brewing, it is a precious high-ancient relic linking Yixing purple clay ore craft, bionic floral creation and literati mountain tea culture in the Qing Dynasty. It quietly narrates the thousand-year cultural lineage of drawing inspiration from nature and integrating sentiment into craft in purple clay history, allowing modern viewers to touch the exclusive mountain poetry and humanistic ingenuity above ancient purple clay kiln fire through mild mottled clay texture.
