Provenance: The Irving Collection, no. 57Y.

Note: Wang Yinxian (1943-2018), a native of Yixing, Jiangsu province, was a preeminent female Yixing pottery artist. She specialized in tea pots in various styles, including plain shapes, those of gourd form, and others of more complex forms, such as the present example, which showcases her extraordinary skills. 

A very similar prunus trunk-form teapot made by Wang Yinxian in 1990 was published in Selected Works of Contemporary Yixing Potters, Hong Kong, 1994, no. 3.

Christie's. Lacquer, Jade, Bronze, Ink: The Irving Collection Evening Sale, New York, 20 March 2019