Chen Qitai · 陳其泰
Dehua · First generation of the Chen family · 1915–1995
Chen Qitai: a presence shaped in porcelain.
Dehua porcelain-sculpture master · Pupil of Xu Youyi
Recognised as a “porcelain-sculpture artisan” · Member of the fourth and fifth Fujian Provincial CPPCC
Chen Qitai, also known as Guotai, came from Ruiban in Dehua. Apprenticed to Xu Youyi as a teenager, he later worked in Dehua’s porcelain factories and ceramic research institutions. His practice brought expression, gesture and flowing drapery to traditional figures, alongside subjects drawn from everyday and modern life.
The family’s biography records his recognition as a “porcelain-sculpture artisan” in 1960. His son Chen Deqing continued the practice; Chen Liling and Chen Gong carry it into the third generation.
Selected work · Bei Kao
The original publication plate identifies the work and credits Chen Qitai. Select the image to view the complete source file.
Image: Chen family archive; source file 1440 × 1080 pixels.
Selected awards and artistic milestones
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Mother’s Love · Provincial Special Prize
Fujian arts-and-crafts exhibition. Family and local-history accounts differ on the year; the award is retained without combining their dates. -
1956 · Li Shizhen · First Prize
Fujian arts-and-crafts exhibition. -
1968 · Wang Zhaojun · Special Prize
Fujian provincial arts-and-crafts exhibition and assessment. -
1979 · National arts-and-crafts creators’ conference
Attended the conference in Beijing; an artistic milestone. -
1984 · Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin · Collaborative work
Developed with the research institute’s technical team and exhibited at the China ceramics exhibition in Hong Kong.
A broad language of figures
Alongside Guanyin, Bodhidharma and luohan figures, he portrayed literary and historical subjects including Li Qingzhao, the Drunken Imperial Consort and Jiang Taigong Fishing. Local historical writing singles out his early-1980s Bodhidharma for its expressive face and measured treatment of drapery.