One of my teapots was accepted into the Yixing show and received a Judges’ Special Award. I did not give it a title when I entered it, but it was given one by the show organizers - “Barn” as it is written on the certificate. Looking up the characters, the Chinese is “gu cang” which translates into granary, storehouse, or barn. The shape of this teapot and its surface detail (excluding the spout and handle) are closely related to covered jars that I have been making over the last few years that were originally inspired by the ubiquitous small grain bins in the local Wisconsin landscape. I guess it just shows how universal some forms are to have people from a different culture on the other side of the globe intuit this idea from this pot.