LONDON.- For the first time outside China, a selection of tea bowls (zhan) created by master potter, Xu Ru Bao, has been brought to England and will be debuting on Mark J West's stand at The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6JP from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 January 2019. Until now, Ru Bao's work has been pre sold to his growing band of domestic collectors.

Zhan are made from the red iron rich Fujian clay glazed with liquid iron ore and fired in traditional wood burning 'dragon' kilns. The firing process takes 3 to 5 days and the kilns have to be served continuously, reaching temperatures of 1200° - 1300°C. The finished colours and surface are defined by their position in the kiln, the temperature, the amount of resin in the pine, used as fuel, and even the weather. Only around 10% -15% of articles are considered to be of sufficient quality to be kept, the rest have either been damaged in the process or are broken by the potter as not being of the required quality. Each Zhan is unique as no two items are ever the same, even though the actual shapes are of course repeated.

Zhan are traditional to the Jian Yang area of Fujian Province in Eastern China and are known as Jian Zhan (Fujian cup). They have been treated as an art form for nearly 1,000 years and are widely collected as well as being beautiful domestic objects.

40 year old master potter Xu Ru Bao has lived and worked in Jian all his life. He only works with wood fired kilns and is considered one of a small group of artist potters.

Ru Bao specialises in flambé, hare's fur and oil spot glazes, sometimes with a tear drop. Each zhan is marked with Ru Bao's personal seal 'De Yu' (gift to me) and with a certificate from his workshop 'Gift to me from the wood fired dragon kiln' signifying the uniqueness of each piece.

Prices of the zhan on Mark J. West's stand vary between £150 and £200. Tickets to the fair are £10 each on the door or in advance through Eventbrite.