Chrysanthemum styled porcelain vase with three colors from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) at the National Museum of China

Chinese ceramics is a form of fine art developed since the dynastic periods. China has always been richly endowed with the raw materials needed for making ceramics. The first types were made about 11,000 years ago, during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese Ceramics range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns to the sophisticated porcelain wares made for the imperial court. “Fine China” redirects here. ... Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... A famille rose bowl Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are terms used to classify Chinese Porcelain by its colour pallette. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (900 × 1200 pixel, file size: 314 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Zh:素三彩菊花耳瓶是中国明朝时期素三彩瓷器种类的一种，现藏于中国国家博物馆。User:○rz摄于2005年12月。 En:This porcelain vase is a kind of Susancai porcelains(Ming Dynasty, 1368 — 1644). ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (900 × 1200 pixel, file size: 314 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Zh:素三彩菊花耳瓶是中国明朝时期素三彩瓷器种类的一种，现藏于中国国家博物馆。User:○rz摄于2005年12月。 En:This porcelain vase is a kind of Susancai porcelains(Ming Dynasty, 1368 — 1644). ... Species Chrysanthemum aphrodite Chrysanthemum arcticum Chrysanthemum argyrophyllum Chrysanthemum arisanense Chrysanthemum boreale Chrysanthemum chalchingolicum Chrysanthemum chanetii Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium Chrysanthemum coronarium, Crown daisy Chrysanthemum crassum Chrysanthemum glabriusculum Chrysanthemum hypargyrum Chrysanthemum indicum Chrysanthemum japonense Chrysanthemum japonicum Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium Chrysanthemum mawii Chrysanthemum maximowiczii Chrysanthemum mongolicum Chrysanthemum morifolium Chrysanthemum morii Chrysanthemum okiense Chrysanthemum oreastrum Chrysanthemum... For other uses, see Ming. ... Events Timur ascends throne of Samarkand. ... // Events February to August - Explorer Abel Tasmans second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia. ... The National Museum of China, a four-storied main building with two symmetrical wings, runs more than 300 meters north and south along the eastern side of Tiananmen Square. ... Fine art refers to arts that are concerned with beauty or which appealed to taste (SOED 1991). ... The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history. ... This article is about ceramic materials. ... This is an alphabetical list of Palaeolithic sites or cultures in China: Bailiangdong Baojiyan Bose Chaoxian Damaidi Dingcun Dingri Donggutuo Fulin Huanxian Huohuoxili Hutouliang Jianping Lunan Malan Maomaodong Nihewan Shibazhan Shilongtou Shuicheng Tongliang Tongzi Wanggongling Xiacaowan Xiaochangliang Xibajianfang Yuanmou Yunxi Yunxian Zhaocun Zhoukoudian List of Neolithic cultures of China List... Pottery on display in Dilli Haat, Delhi, India. ...

Introduction

Terminology

The Chinese term for porcelain (Chinese: 瓷, cí) covers a wide range of high-fired ceramics, some of which may not be recognized as porcelain by Western definitions. Porcelain is usually green-fired or once-fired, which means that the body and the glaze are fired together. After the body of a piece is formed and finished it is dried, coated with a glaze, dried again and fired. In the high temperature of the kiln the body and the glaze are fused together to become a unit. Chinese enamelled wares are also produced in this way, except enamels are added after the first high-temperature firing. The pieces are then fired again in a second round via a smaller, lower-temperature kiln. “Fine China” redirects here. ... Composite body, painted, and glazed bottle. ... Charcoal Kilns, California Gold Kiln, Victoria, Australia Hop kiln. ... In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. ...

Categories

A qingbai porcelain vase, bowl, and model of a granary with transparent blue-toned glaze, from the period of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).

The Chinese tradition recognises only two primary categories of ceramics, high-fired [cí 瓷] and low-fired [táo 匋] ^[1]. The oldest Chinese dictionaries define porcelain [cí 瓷] as "fine, compact pottery" [táo 匋] ^[2]. In the West the property of translucence is often regarded as a defining feature of porcelain, but this is not the case in China, where any thick or opaque piece that rings with a reasonably clear note on being struck would be regarded as porcelain [cí 瓷] ^[2]. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 731 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1674 × 1374 pixel, file size: 281 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 731 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1674 × 1374 pixel, file size: 281 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Granary at Thiruparaithurai, Kumbakonam (old temple town), built around 1600-1634 A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. ... For other uses, see Liu Song Dynasty. ... The Erya (爾雅) is a Chinese dictionary from before the first century. ... Transparent glass ball In optics, transparency is the property of allowing light to pass. ... A substance or object that is opaque is neither transparent nor translucent. ...

Chinese ceramic wares are also classified as being either northern or southern. Present-day China comprises two separate and geologically different land masses, brought together by the action of continental drift and forming a junction that lies between the Yellow river and the Yangtze river. The contrasting geology of the north and south led to differences in the raw materials available for making ceramics. For other Yellow Rivers, see Yellow River (disambiguation). ... The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), or Drichu in Tibetan (Tibetan: འབ; Wylie: bri chu) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa, and the Amazon in South America. ...

Materials

Chinese porcelain is mainly made by the following two materials or a combination of the two. Both rocks derive from the weathering and decomposition of granitic rocks. Granite is a common and widely-occurring group of intrusive felsic igneous rocks that form at great depths and pressures under continents. ... This article is about the geological substance. ...

• China clay / (Gaoling) - composed largely of the clay mineral kaolinite.
• Pottery stone - are micaceous or feldspar rocks. Historically they were also known as petunse.^[3].

Kaolin redirects here. ... Rock with mica Mica sheet Mica flakes The mica group of minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. ... Lunar Ferroan Anorthosite #60025 (Plagioclase Feldspar). ... This article is about the geological substance. ... Petuntse (from 白墩子 in pinyin: bai2 dun1 zi0), also spelled petunse, also known as china stone, is a granite-derived feldspar. ...

History

Defining ceramics

Ming presentation porcelain, from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

In the context of Chinese ceramics the term porcelain lacks a universally accepted definition. This in turn has led to confusion about when the first Chinese porcelain was made. Claims have been made for the late Eastern Han period (100 to 200 AD), the Three Kingdoms period (220 to 280 AD), the Six Dynasties period (220 to 589 AD), and the Tang Dynasty (618 to 906 AD). Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 3456 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 3456 pixel, file size: 2. ... Front View, Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan Reverse View Ming presentation porcelain was a variety of high quality Chinese porcelain items included among the gifts exchanged in foreign relations during the Ming Dynasty. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... The Three Kingdoms period (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a period in the history of China, part of an era of disunity called the Six Dynasties. ... Six Dynasties (六朝) is a collective noun for the six Chinese dynasties, namely the Kingdom of Wu, Eastern Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ...

Early wares

Fragments of pottery vessels dating from around the year 9000 BC found at the Xianrendong (Spirit Cave) site, Wannian County, in the province of Jiangxi represent some of the earliest known Chinese ceramics. The wares were hand-made by coiling and fired in bonfires. Decorations include impressed cord marks, and features produced by stamping and by piercing. Xianren Cave (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Immortals Cave) is a small cave in Wannian County, Jiangxi, China, and the location for historically important finds of prehistoric pottery shards and rice grains. ... Wannian (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a county under the jurisdiction of Shangrao City in Jiangxi, China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-hsi; Postal map spelling: Kiangsi) is a southern province of the Peoples Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south. ... A coil is a series of loops. ... For the AC/DC box set, see Bonfire (album). ...

The Xianrendong site was occupied from about 9000 BC to about 4000 BC. During this period two types of pottery were made. The first consisted of coarse-bodied wares possibly intended for everyday use. The second being finer, thinner-bodied wares possibly intended for ritual use or special occasions. There is archaeological evidence suggesting that both types of wares were produced at the same time at some point.

Han dynasty

Some experts believe the first true porcelain was made in the province of Zhejiang during the Eastern Han period. Chinese experts emphasize the presence of a significant proportion of porcelain-building minerals (china clay, porcelain stone or a combination of both) as an important factor in defining porcelain. Shards recovered from archaeological Eastern Han kiln sites estimated firing temperature ranged from 1260 to 1300°C^[4]. As far back as 1000 BC, the so-called "Porcelaneous wares" or "proto-porcelain wares" were made using at least some kaolin fired at high temperatures. The dividing the line between the two and true porcelain wares is not a clear one. A province, in the context of China, is a translation of Sheng (Chinese: 省 ShÄ›ng), which is an administrative division of China. ... Zhejiang (also spelled Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... In archaeology, a sherd is a fragment of pottery or other ceramic. ... For other uses, see Celsius (disambiguation). ... Kaolin Kaolinite (Aluminium Silicate Hydroxide) Kaolinite is a mineral with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4. ...

Sui and Tang dynasty

A Song Dynasty porcelain bottle with iron pigment over transparent colorless glaze, 11th century.

During the Sui and Tang periods (581 to 907) a wide range of ceramics, low-fired and high-fired, were produced. These included the well-known Tang lead-glazed sancai (three-colour) wares, the high-firing, lime-glazed Yue celadon wares and low-fired wares from Changsha. In northern China, high-fired, translucent porcelains were made at kilns in the provinces of Henan and Hebei. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 518 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (765 × 885 pixel, file size: 125 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 518 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (765 × 885 pixel, file size: 125 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... For other uses, see Liu Song Dynasty. ... The Sui Dynasty of China amongst the Asian, African, and European spheres of the world, 600 AD. The Sui Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; 581-618 AD[1]) followed the Southern and Northern Dynasties and preceded the Tang Dynasty in China. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

One of the first mentions of porcelain by a foreigner was made by an Arabian traveler during the Tang Dynasty who recorded that: For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ...

The Arabs were aware of the materials necessary to create glass ware, and he was certain it was not the usual glass material.

Song and Yuan dynasty

The city of Jingdezhen (also Jingde Zhen) has been a central place of production since the early Han Dynasty. In 1004 Jingde established the city as the main production hub for Imperial porcelain. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, porcelain made in the city and other southern China kiln sites used crushed and refined porcelain stones alone. Position of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Jingdezhen (Simplified Chinese: 景德镇; Traditional Chinese: 景德鎮; Pinyin: ), or the Town of Jingde, is a prefecture-level city, previously a town, in Jiangxi Province, China, with a city population of 3,112,000 (estimate 2006) has been termed the Porcelain Capital (瓷都) because of its production of quality... Emperor Zhenzong (December 23, 968 - March 23, 1022) was the third emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. ... For other uses, see Liu Song Dynasty. ... Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... Alternative meaning: In geology, North China (continent) and South China (continent) were two ancient landmasses that correspond to modern northern and southern China. ...

Qing dynasty

Two letters written by Père Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles, a Jesuit missionary and industrial spy who lived and worked in Jingdezhen in the early eighteenth century, described in detail manufacturing of porcelain in the city, see: ^[6]. In his first letter dating 1712, d'Entrecolles described the way in which porcelain stones were crushed, refined and formed into little white bricks, known in Chinese as petuntse. He then went on to describe the refining of china clay kaolin along with the developmental stages of glazing and firing. He explained his motives: The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... SPY may refer to: SPY (spiders), ticker symbol for Standard & Poors Depository Receipts SPY (magazine), a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps SPY (Ivory Coast), airport code for San Pédro, Côte dIvoire SPY (Ship Planning Yard), a U.S. Navy acronym SPY, short for MOWAG SPY, a... Petuntse (from 白墩子 in pinyin: bai2 dun1 zi0), also spelled petunse, also known as china stone, is a granite-derived feldspar. ... Kaolin Kaolinite (Aluminium Silicate Hydroxide) Kaolinite is a mineral with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4. ...

In 1743, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, Tang Ying, the imperial supervisor in the city produced a memoir entitled "Twenty illustrations of the manufacture of porcelain." Unfortunately, the original illustrations have been lost, but the text of the memoir is still accessible^[7]. The Qianlong Emperor (born Hongli, September 25, 1711 – February 7, 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. ...

Jingdezhen became the main production centre for large-scale porcelain exports to Europe starting with the reign of the Wanli emperor from 1572 to 1620. By this time china clay and porcelain stone were mixed in about equal proportions. China clay produced wares of great strength when added to the body layer. Whiteness became a much sought after property, especially when combined to form blue-and-white wares. Porcelain stone was used with lower temperature of 1250°C in the region. Compared to those mixed with china clay, which required 1350°C. The large southern egg-shaped kiln varied greatly in temperature. Near the firebox it was hot. Near the chimney, at the opposite end of the kiln, it was cooler. Chinese export porcelain refers to a wide range of porcelain that was made and decorated in China exclusively for export to Europe between the 16th and the 20th century. ... Wanli Emperor Birth and death: Sept. ... For other uses, see Celsius (disambiguation). ...

Chinese porcelain wares

Tang Dynasty (618–907) sancai horse at the Shanghai Museum

Tang horse at the Shanghai Museum by Andrew Lih File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Tang horse at the Shanghai Museum by Andrew Lih File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... Shanghai Museum The Shanghai Museum (Chinese:上海博物館) is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the Peoples Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ...

Tang Sancai burial wares

Main article: Sancai

Sancai means three-colours. However, the colours of the glazes used to decorate the wares of the Tang dynasty were not limited to three in number. In the West, Tang sancai wares were sometimes referred to as egg-and-spinach by dealers for the use of green, yellow and white. Though the latter of the two colours might be more properly described as amber and off-white / cream. Sancai horse, Tang Dynasty, 7-8th century. ...

Sancai wares were northern wares made using white and buff-firing secondary kaolins and fire clays ^[8]. At kiln sites located at Tongchuan, Neiqui county in Hebei and Gongxian in Henan ^[8], the clays used for burial wares were similar to those used by Tang potters. The burial wares were fired at a lower temperature than contemporaneous whitewares. Burial wares, such as the well-known representations of camels and horses, were cast in sections, in moulds with the parts luted together using clay slip. In some cases, a degree of individuality was imparted to the assembled figurines by hand-carving. Fire clay is a specific kind of clay used in the manufacture of ceramics. ... Tongchuan is a city located in central Shaanxi Province, on the southern fringe of the Northern Shaanxi Plateau and the northern boundary of Guanzhong Plain. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... // Look up Potter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Moldy cream cheese Molds (British English: moulds) are various fungi that cover surfaces as fluffy mycelium and usually produce masses of asexual, sometimes sexual spores. ...

Song Dynasty Jian tea bowl at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image File history File links Jian_bowl. ... Image File history File links Jian_bowl. ... For other uses, see Liu Song Dynasty. ... The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City. ...

Jian tea wares

Jian blackwares, mainly comprising tea wares, were made at kilns located in Jianyang of Fujian province. They reached the peak of their popularity during the Song dynasty. The wares were made using locally-won, iron-rich clays and fired in an oxidising atmosphere at temperatures in the region of 1300°C. The glaze was made using clay similar to that used for forming the body, except fluxed with wood-ash. At high temperatures the molten glaze separate to produce a pattern called hare's fur. When Jian wares were set tilted for firing, drips run down the side, creating evidence of liquid glaze pooling. Jianyang (建阳; pinyin: Jiànyáng) is a county-level city in Nanping prefecture in the northern part of Fujian province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal map spelling: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... ed|other uses|reduction}} Illustration of a redox reaction Redox (shorthand for reduction/oxidation reaction) describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. ...

The hare's fur Jian tea bowl illustrated in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was made during the Song dynasty (960 to 1279 AD) and exhibits the typical pooling, or thickening, of the glaze near the bottom. The hare's fur patterning in the glaze of this bowl resulted from the random effect of phase separation during early cooling in the kiln and is unique to this bowl. No two bowls have identical patterning. The bowl also has a dark brown iron-foot which is typical of this style. It would have been fired, probably with several thousand other other pieces, each in its own stackable saggar, in a single-firing in a large dragon kiln. One such kiln, built on the side of a steep hill, was almost 150 metres in length, though most Jian dragon kilns were fewer than 100 metres in length. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City. ... This article is about the state. ... Saggar firing is an alternative firing process for pottery. ... Anagama kiln 1 Door about 75cm wide 2 Firebox. ...

An 11th century resident of Fujian wrote:

Jian tea wares of the Song dynasty were greatly appreciated and copied in Japan, where they were known as tenmoku wares. Phase separation in the iron-rich glazes of Chinese blackwares was also used to produce the well-known oil-spot, teadust and partridge-feather glaze effects. Tenmoku (also spelled temmoku and temoku) is a dark glaze with a surface that resembles oilspotting. ... In the physical sciences, a phase is a set of states of a macroscopic physical system that have relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (i. ...

Song Dynasty qingbai bowl

Image File history File linksMetadata Qingbai. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Qingbai. ... For other uses, see Liu Song Dynasty. ...

Qingbai wares

Qingbai wares (also called yingqing^[9]) were made at Jingdezhen and at many other southern kilns from the time of the Northern Song Dynasty until they were eclipsed in the 14th century by underglaze-decorated blue and white wares. Qingbai in Chinese literally means "clear blue-white". The qingbai glaze is a porcelain glaze, so-called because it was made using porcelain stone. The qingbai glaze is clear, but contains iron in small amounts. When applied over a white porcelain body the glaze produces a greenish-blue colour that gives the glaze its name. Some have incised or moulded decorations. Alternative meaning: Song Dynasty (420-479) The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... General Name, symbol, number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Standard atomic weight 55. ...

The Song dynasty qingbai bowl illustrated was likely made at the Jingdezhen village of Hutian, which was also the site of the Imperial kilns established in the year 1004. The bowl has incised decoration, possibly representing clouds or the reflection of clouds in the water. The body is white, translucent and has the texture of very-fine sugar, indicating that it was made using crushed and refined porcelain stone instead of porcelain stone and china clay. The glaze and the body of the bowl would have been fired together, in a saggar, possibly in a large wood-burning dragon-kiln or climbing-kiln, typical of southern kilns in the period. This article is about sugar as food and as an important and widely-traded commodity. ... Saggar firing is an alternative firing process for pottery. ... Anagama kiln 1 Door about 75cm wide 2 Firebox. ...

Though many Song and Yuan qingbai bowls were fired upside down in special segmented saggars, a technique first developed at the Ding kilns in Hebei province. The rims of such wares were left unglazed but were often bound with bands of silver, copper or lead. Ding Ware Ding ware was produced in the prefecture of Dingzhou, starting from the end of the Tang dynasty and finishing during the Jin dynasty of northern China. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series Post-transition metals or poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ...

One remarkable example of qingbai porcelain is the so-called Fonthill Vase, described in a guide for Fonthill Abbey published in 1823 Fonthill Abbey Fonthill Abbey — also known as Beckfords Folly — was a large Gothic-style building built in the turn of the 19th century in Wiltshire, England. ...

The vase was made at Jingdezhen, probably around the year 1300 and was sent as a present to Pope Benedict XII by one of the last Yuan emperors of China, in 1338. The mounts referred to in the 1823 description were of enamelled silver-gilt and were added to the vase in Europe in 1381. An 18th century water colour of the vase complete with its mounts exists, but the mounts themselves were removed and lost in the 19th century. The vase is now in the National Museum of Ireland. It is often held that qingbai wares were not subject to the higher standards and regulations of the other porcelain wares, since they were made for everyday use. They were mass-produced, and received little attention from scholars and antiquarians. The Fonthill Vase, given by a Chinese emperor to a pope, might appear to cast at least some doubt on this view. Benedict XII, né Jacques Fournier ( 1280s – April 25, 1342), was Pope from 1334 to 1342. ... The following is a list of Emperors of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. ... The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) is the main museum in Ireland. ... An antiquarian or antiquary is one concerned with antiquities or things of the past. ...

Blue and white wares

Statue of Guan Yin, Ming Dynasty (Shanghai Museum)

Tripod Early 17th Century, Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 399 KB) Status of Kuan Yin, Ming Dynasty, By Chaozhong He, photoed by Mountain at Shanghai Museum File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kuan Yin Dehua... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 399 KB) Status of Kuan Yin, Ming Dynasty, By Chaozhong He, photoed by Mountain at Shanghai Museum File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kuan Yin Dehua... For the Chen Dynasty empress whose Buddhist nun name was Guanyin, see Empress Shen Wuhua. ... Shanghai Museum The Shanghai Museum (Chinese:上海博物館) is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the Peoples Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ...

Blanc de Chine

Main article: Blanc de Chine

Blanc de Chine is a type of white porcelain made at Dehua in the Fujian province. It has been produced from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the present day. Large quantities arrived in Europe as Chinese Export Porcelain in the early 18th century and it was copied at Meissen and elsewhere. Image:Blancdechine. ... Dehua (德化) is located at central Fujian, one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal map spelling: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... Events Timur ascends throne of Samarkand. ... // Events February to August - Explorer Abel Tasmans second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Chinese export porcelain refers to a wide range of porcelain that was made and decorated in China exclusively for export to Europe between the 16th and the 20th century. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Old town of Meißen. ...

The area along the Fujian coast was traditionally one of the main ceramic exporting centers. Over one-hundred and eighty kiln sites have been identified extending in historical range from the Song period to present.

From the Ming period porcelain objects were manufactured that achieved a fusion of glaze and body traditionally referred to as "ivory white" and "milk white." The special characteristic of Dehua porcelain is the very small amount of iron oxide in it, allowing it to be fired in an oxidising atmosphere to a warm white or pale ivory color. (Wood, 2007)

The porcelain body is not very plastic but vessel forms have been made from it. Donnelly, (1969, pp.xi-xii) lists the following types of product: figures, boxes, vases and jars, cups and bowls, fishes, lamps, cup-stands, censers and flowerpots, animals, brush holders, wine and teapots, Buddhist and Taoist figures, secular figures and puppets. There was a large output of figures, especially religious figures, e.g. Guanyin, Maitreya, Lohan and Ta-mo figures. A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Kuan Yin (Pinyin: Guanyin; also written Kwan Yin or in other variants which hyphenate or remove the space between the two words) is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists. ... This article is about the Buddhist bodhisattva Maitreya. ... A Chinese Luohan statue from the Liao Dynasty in Hebei Province, China In the sramanic traditions of ancient India (most notably those of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha) arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) signified a spiritual practitioner who had—to use an expression common in the tipitaka—laid down the burden...

The numerous Dehua porcelain factories today make figures and tableware in modern styles. During the Cultural Revolution “Dehua artisans applied their very best skills to produce immaculate statuettes of the Great Leader and the heroes of the revolution. Portraits of the stars of the new proletarian opera in their most famous roles were produced on a truly massive scale.” (Ayers and Bingling, 2002) Mao figures later fell out of favor but have been revived for foreign collectors. This article is about the Peoples Republic of China. ... Mao could refer to: Mao Zedong, (Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles) leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976. ...

Notable artists in blanc de Chine, such as the late Ming period He Chaozong, signed their creations with their seals. Wares include crisply modeled figures, cups, bowls and joss stick-holders. BODHISATTVA MANJUSRI, Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan SEAL of ARTIST He Chaozong 何朝宗 was a celebrated early 17th century Chinese potter. ... Glass stemware Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drinkware Drinkware or Beverageware is a general term for the class of vessels from which people drink. ...

Many of the best examples of blanc de Chine are found in Japan where the white variety was termed hakugorai or "Korean white", a term often found in tea ceremony circles. The British Museum in London has a large number of blanc de Chine pieces, having received as a gift in 1980 the entire collection of P.J.Donnelly. (Harrison-Hall, 2001) A tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. ... London museum | name = British Museum | image = British Museum from NE 2. ...

Fakes and reproductions

Kangxi reign mark on a piece of late nineteenth century blue and white porcelain.

Italian pottery of the mid-15th century shows heavy influences from Chinese ceramics. A Sancai ("Three colors") plate (left), and a Ming-type blue-and-white vase (right), made in Northern Italy, mid-15th century. Musée du Louvre.

Chinese potters have a long tradition of borrowing design and decorative features from earlier wares. Whilst ceramics with features thus borrowed might sometimes pose problems of provenance, they would not generally be regarded as either reproductions or fakes. However, fakes and reproductions have also been made at many times during the long history of Chinese ceramics and continue to be made today in ever-increasing numbers. Image File history File links Kangxi_mark. ... Image File history File links Kangxi_mark. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 427 pixelsFull resolution (4047 × 2161 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 427 pixelsFull resolution (4047 × 2161 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... Provenance is the origin or source from which anything comes. ...

• Reproductions of Song dynasty Longquan celadon wares were made at Jingdezhen in the early 18th century, but outright fakes were also made using special clay that were artificially aged by boiling in meat broth, refiring and storage in sewers. Père d'Entrecolles records that by this means the wares could be passed off as being hundreds of years old^[6].

• At Jingdezhen the two remaining wood fired, egg-shaped kilns produce convincing reproductions of earlier wares. At Zhejiang province good reproductions of Song Longquan celedon wares continue to be made in large, side-stoked dragon kilns.^{[citation needed]}

• Before World War II, the English potter Bernard Leach found what he took to be genuine Song dynasty cizhou rice-bowls being sold for very little money on the dock of a Chinese port and was surprised to learn that they were in fact newly made.^{[citation needed]}

• In modern times the market for Song dynasty Jian tea-bowls has been severely depressed by the appearance in large numbers of modern fakes good enough to deceive even expert collectors. It is reported that some of these fakes show evidence of having had genuine Song dynasty iron-foot bases grafted onto newly made bodies.^{[citation needed]}

• In the late 19th century fakes of Kangxi period famille noire wares were made that were convincing enough to deceive the experts of the day. Many such pieces may still be seen in museums today, as may pieces of genuine Kangxi porcelain decorated in the late nineteenth century with famille noire enamels. A body of modern expert opinion holds that porcelain decorated with famille noire enamels was not made at all during the Kangxi period, though this view is disputed ^[10].

• A fashion for Kangxi period (1662 to 1722) blue and white wares grew to large proportions in Europe during the later years of the 19th century and triggered the production at Jingdezhen of large quantities of porcelain wares that strike a resemblance to ceramics of earlier periods. Such blue and white wares were not fakes or even convincing reproductions, even though some pieces carried four-character Kangxi reign-marks that continue to cause confusion to this day. Kangxi reign-marks in the form shown in the illustration occur only on wares made towards the end of the 19th century or later, without exception.

Longquan celadon (龙泉青瓷) is a variety of celadon pottery produced in Longquan city, Zhejiang province, China. ... Broth is a liquid in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered and strained out. ... For the art of stitching, see Sewing. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Bernard Howell Leach CH (January 5, 1887 – May 6, 1979), a British studio potter. ...

Authentication

The most widely-known test is the thermoluminescence test, or TL test, which is used on some types of ceramic to estimate, roughly, the date of last firing. The TL test is carried out on small samples of porcelain drilled or cut from the body of a piece, which can be risky and disfiguring. For this reason, the test is rarely used for dating finely-potted, high-fired ceramics. TL testing cannot be used at all on some types of porcelain items, particularly high-fired porcelain.^{[citation needed]} Some mineral substances such as fluorite store energy when exposed to ultraviolet or other ionising radiation. ...

Gallery

Early wares

Tang (618 to 906 AD)

Song (960 to 1279 AD)

Yuan (1279 to 1368 AD)

Ming (1368 to 1644 AD)

Qing (1644 to 1912 AD)

Republic and People's Republic (1912, to date)

See also

• Chinese art
• Blanc-de-Chine (the white wares of Dehua).
• Canton porcelain (Jingdezhen porcelain decorated at Canton for export to the West).
• Chinese export porcelain (Chinese porcelain made for export to the West).
• Dehua porcelain factories (the factories at Dehua).
• Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte (enamelled wares of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries).
• Kraak porcelain (blue and white export wares in the Dutch taste).
• Longquan Celadon (the celadon wares of Longquan county).
• Swatow ware (wares exported through the port of Swatow).
• Yixing clay (the red stonewares of Yixing).
• Tiger Cave Kiln (site of much of Southern Song official celadon ware)
• Shiwan Ware

Chinese Jade ornament with flower design, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD), Shanghai Museum. ... Image:Blancdechine. ... A canton porcelain vase mountend as a lamp Canton porcelains are Chinese ceramic wares made for export in the 18th to the 20th centuries. ... Chinese export porcelain refers to a wide range of porcelain that was made and decorated in China exclusively for export to Europe between the 16th and the 20th century. ... A Blanc-de-Chine of Dehua porcelain Dehua porcelain factories are porcelain factories at Dehua, near Foochow in the Fujian province of south-east China. ... A famille rose bowl Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are terms used to classify Chinese Porcelain by its colour pallette. ... Kraak porcelain is a type of Chinese export porcelain produced from the Wanli reign (1563-1620) until around 1640. ... Longquan celadon (龙泉青瓷) is a variety of celadon pottery produced in Longquan city, Zhejiang province, China. ... Swatow ware or Swatow is a common name for a group of mainly late Ming export porcelain from China intended for the South East Asian market. ... This article may not be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... Mongol Period Tiger Kiln Celadon Bowl, Private Collection Japan Base and Footrim Recent excavations at the Tiger Cave Kiln at Hangzhou in the Chinese province of Zhejiang have helped to identify one site of origin of the important celadon-glazed porcelain wares of the Southern Song Dynasty known as Guan...

References

Seattle Art Museum, viewed from First Avenue The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in downtown Seattle, Washington USA. Admission is free on the first Thursday of each month. ...

Bibilography

• Ayers, J. and Bingling, Y., (2002) Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute, New York
• Ayers, J and Kerr, R., (2000), Blanc de Chine Porcelain from Dehua, Art Media Resources Ltd.
• Donnelly, P.J. (1969), Blanc de Chine, Faber and Faber, London
• Harrison-Hall, J. (2001), Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, British Museum, London
• Kerr, Rose and Wood, Nigel (2004). Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5, Part XII: Ceramic Technology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83833-9.
• Kotz, Suzanne (ed.) (1989) Imperial Taste. Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation. Chronicle Books, San Francisco. ISBN 0-87701-612-7.
• Moujian, S., (1986) An Encyclopedia of Chinese Art, p. 292.
• Wood, N. (2007), Chinese Glazes: Their Chemistry, Origins and Re-creation, A & C Black, London, and University of Pennsylvania Press, USA