Qing Dynasty, signed Zhu Shimei. With rounded sides and a slightly everted rim rising from a high foot, lobed into six sections the body inscribed and signed Shimei, between impressed keyscroll bands to the rim and foot, 23cm diameter, 9cm H. 清 宜興紫砂花口盌,「石楳」款 款識:「春前韭嫩,秋末菘鮮,但期下箸,何必萬錢。」 The scholar Zhu Jian (1796-1850), known by his hao, Shimei or 'stone prunus', was active in the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods and a key figure in reviving interest in Yixing among the literati. Zhu is considered one of the most important scholarly potters and teapot connoisseurs, and wrote the book Hu shi [The history of the teapot].