Chinese Porcelain and Pottery — Ceramics Made by the Art of Earth and Fire
Chinese ceramics include historical pottery and exquisite porcelain, which perfectly and harmoniously connect daily wares with splendid art.
They are the art of earth and fire, the witness of Chinese history and development since being invented during the Neolithic era, and the carrier of culture and aesthetic values.
Definition and Difference of Chinese Ceramics, Pottery, and Porcelain.
Celadon Since the Shang Dynasty.
White Porcelain Since the Sui Dynasty.
Blue and White Porcelain Since the Yuan Dynasty — Exceptional Underglaze Art.
Design Arts of Chinese Potteries and Porcelains.
Famous Ceramic Kilns in China.
All Photos On This Page Are From Museum Photographer Dongmaiying.
Secret Color Porcelain or Mi Se Ci Bowl of the Five Dynasties (907 — 960) — Suzhou Museum
Definition and Difference of Chinese Ceramics, Pottery, and Porcelain.
Chinese Ceramics, also named Tao Ci, include Pottery (Tao) and Porcelain (Ci).
Chinese Pottery originated first during the Neolithic era; made of clay, heating temperature between 800 and 1,100 °C (1,500 and 2,000 °F), highly absorbent and air permeable, and with a lower degree of solidity.
Potteries' surfaces are opaque and can go without or apply the low-temperature glaze.
Sancai Pottery Plate of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) — The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Chinese Porcelain appeared a few thousand years later, during the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC — 1046 BC); made of kaolinite, heating temperature between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F), nonabsorbent and with a higher degree of solidity.
Porcelain surfaces would apply glaze and are translucent, smooth, delicate, and exquisite.
Coral Red Glazed Porcelain Vase With Peony Patterns of the Yongzheng Period (1723 — 1736) — Palace Museum
Chinese Pottery Since the Neolithic Era — Monochrome Pottery, Painted Pottery, Glazed Pottery, and Sancai
Monochrome Pottery
During the Neolithic period, people started using clay and fire to produce ancient pottery with different colors by controlling kilns' air, temperature, and smoke.
Red Pottery (or Terracotta), Gray Pottery, and Black Pottery were typical ceramics during this era.
Egg Shell Black Pottery Goblet of Longshan Culture (around 2500 BC — 2000 BC) — National Museum of China
Meanwhile, kaolinite was used to make White Pottery, which is neat and solid.
White Pottery Horse of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) — Zhaoling Museum
Painted Pottery
Painted Potteries have beautiful drawings on the surface and are divided into two types based on producing technics.
One is named Cai Tao, which has the colors and pictures drawn on pottery tires first, then put into kilns to fire.
That way, the fused patterns, and pictures would be part of the pottery and could last a long time without falling off.
Cai Tao Painted Pottery Pot of the Majiayao Culture (around 3300 BC — 2100 BC) — Qinghai Museum
The other is named Caihui Tao, which has the colors and pictures drawn on pottery after they have been fired and taken out of the kilns.
Those paintings that are applied afterward are easier to fall off, like the fallen colors on Terracotta Soldiers, one of China's most famous Caihui Tao pottery figurines.
Glazed Pottery
Potteries that apply glaze technics, usually low-temperature lead glaze, are the Glazed Potteries.
Because lead is poisonous, Glazed Potteries have been used as funerary wares.
Green Glazed Pottery Well of the Han Dynasty (202 BC — 220 AD) — Shandong Museum
Sancai
Sancai is a type of low-temperature lead Glazed Pottery that thrived during the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907), whose glaze colors usually include yellow, green, white, brown, blue, black, and others.
As necessary funerary wares, Sancai figures represent all aspects of the prosperous Tang Empire and hold great cultural, historical, and aesthetic values.
Sancai Pottery Horse of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) — The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Celadon Since the Shang Dynasty.
Celadon is believed to be the earliest ancestor of Chinese Porcelain. The Proto Celadon originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC — 1046 BC), and the real Celadon appeared during the Han Dynasty (202 BC — 220 AD).
It is a type of porcelain that applies glaze with iron oxide and then fires in a reducing kiln at high temperatures.
Different thicknesses, chemicals of the glazes, and kilns' temperatures can influence Celadon's colors.
However, the favorite colors of Celadon in China are jade greens because of the highly valued Jade Culture.
Celadon Compact of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907 — 979) — Lin'an Museum
Celadon porcelains are translucent and bright as ice, delicate and smooth as jade.
The production and aesthetic value of Celadons reached their peak during the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279).
Azure Glaze Celadon Censer of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 — 1127) — Henan Antique Archaeology Institute
Secret Color Porcelain
Secret Color Porcelain, or Mi Se Ci, is unique and noteworthy.
They are believed to be the most exquisite Celadon wares from the best kiln of the Tang (618 — 907) and Five Dynasties (907 — 960), produced only for the royals.
Their glazes are crystal clear and mild like beautiful lakes, classic and gentle as poetic mountains, and their glazing technics had been highly confidential.
Secret Color Porcelain also disappeared with the fall of kingdoms during the Five Dynasties.
Since then, these mysterious wares have been only recorded and praised in ancient poems and articles until 14 Secret Color Porcelain wares of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) were unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple.
Secret Color Porcelain or Mi Se Ci Plate of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) Unearthed from Famen Temple — National Museum of China
Fancy Color Glaze of Jun Ware
Jun Ware refers to Celadon porcelains produced in Jun Kiln popularized since the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279) with fancy colors and beautiful textures, through changing chemicals and applying technics of the glazes, and controlling fire temperature.
Rose Purple Glaze Writing-brush Washer of the Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644) — Capital Museum
White Porcelain Since the Sui Dynasty.
During the Sui (589 — 619) and Tang (589 — 619) Dynasties, when Celadon wares flourished in the south, White Porcelain was produced and rapidly popularized in the north.
The elegant and unadorned white wares originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 — 220) and became mature and industrialized in the Sui Dynasty.
To make pure and flawless White Porcelain, kaolinite contains little iron elements, and the transparent glaze is the key.
White Porcelain Bowl of the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907) — Yangzhou Museum
Later in Song Dynasty (960 — 1279), production of all types of ceramics reached an advanced level, and so was White Porcelain.
Meanwhile, the bluish-white glaze was invented to apply to White Porcelain wares, soon becoming an important branch.
Bluish-white Glaze Cup and Holder of the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279) — Harvard Art Museums
Then, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (1360 — 1424), Sweet White Glaze (Tianbai You) was invented.
The color of Sweet White Glaze porcelains is not pure white, and their smooth texture looks like rich milk and sweet sugar.
Sweet White Glaze Jar Produced During the Reign of Yongle Emperor — Palace Museum