In 1972, Li Wenxian saw a small piece of ancient porcelain at a friend’s house. He was immediately captivated by the beautiful and magical patterns in the porcelain, as he carefully examined the edge of the porcelain, he saw the pattern extended from the inside out as if replicated. He was amazed that such skilled craftsmen existed in ancient times, and the discovery of marbled porcelain sparked his future passion.
In 2003, at the home of a ceramics enthusiast friend, Li Wenxian once again saw the long-desired marbled feather-patterned porcelain shard. Afterwards, this beautiful feather-patterned design remained etched in his mind.
Li Wenxian met a ceramics expert and after a long discussion and listening carefully to the expert’s information, he could no longer suppress his long-held dream and declared to the expert, “I want to unearth the millennia-old lost technique of marbled porcelain firing !”
In 2005, Li Wenxian and his wife rented a small courtyard at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, they purchased and built a shuttle kiln and aquired all of the necessary equipment to make their own molds.
In 2006 he then met a group of local folk collectors of marbled porcelain and ceramic craftsmen, and began a new round of firing experiments to perfect his techniques.
In June 2006, Li Wenxian’s marbled porcelain won first prize at the first Central Plains Folk Art Festival.
In 2007, Li Wenxian was recognized as a contemporary artist by eight national ministries.
In 2008, the Wenxian Jiaotai porcelain making technique was named one of the first batch of intangible cultural heritages by the Jiaozuo Municipal People’s Government, and the Wenxian Jiaotai Porcelain Factory was named the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Reproduction (Jiaotai Porcelain) Research and Development Base by the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Administration.
In 2009, the Wenxian Jiaotai porcelain making technique was named a Henan Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Wenxian Jiaotai porcelain products were selected as gifts for foreign countries by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2014, Li Wenxian’s company was named a “Henan Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Productive Protection Demonstration Base” by the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Li Wenxian’s jiaotai porcelain firing technique was selected as a “National Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Project”.
Today we make a range of porcelain products using all of the traditional methods and do commissions for bespoke products based around a customers choice of style, colours and requirements.