JIANG RONG (1919-2008)

Jiang Rong (1919–2008), a female artist, was born in Yixing, Jiangsu province and awarded the title of “China Arts and Crafts Master.” (中國工藝美術大師)In 1956, the Jiangsu provincial government named Jiang as the Jishu Fudao (“technician teacher”, 技術輔導)for Yixing pottery, which was regarded as the highest honor in the arts and crafts industry in China at the time. Jiang was the only woman among the Six Old Masters chosen to teach in the main factory when Yixing ware was revived in the 1950s. She was the foremost master of the naturalistic tradition of Yixing ware. Jiang’s works were selected as gifts for foreign dignitaries by Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, during his diplomatic visits to Southeast Asian countries in the 1950s.