Page 127 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts
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represent virtually the only type of secular sculpture occurring when floating particles of ash in the
ever made in China. wood-fired kiln landed on the vessel surface, or
deliberate, achieved by dusting ash onto the vessel
Funerary pottery inspired little innovation in before firing. Whatever the process, the glaze was
never smooth or even.
ceramic technology. Glazes were used on Chinese
earthenwares beginning only in the Han dynasty Vessels of glazed stoneware were made throughout
(206 BCE-220 ce), almost a thousand years after the Bronze Age (ca. 2100 bce—220 ce) without
they had appeared on Chinese stonewares. The major changes. Whereas in the Eastern Zhou
glazes have a wider range of bright colors than the period bronze vessels became more and more
early stonewares, beginning with a leaf green flamboyant in shape and design, their surfaces often
(cat. 100) and a reddish brown (cat. 101) in the Han enhanced by dramatic inlay in silver, gold,
dynasty, followed by a blackish brown in the malachite, and other materials, and lacquerware
Northern Wei (386-534), various tones of yellow provided an elegant alternative in the form of far
and amber from the Northern Qi on, and more delicate vessels with intricate polychrome
eventually blue and turquoise in the Tang. 5 painted designs, the finest ceramics were still
Because funerary ceramics were generally made of rather dull.
soft and porous clays and either cold-painted with
After the Han dynasty fell, the empire fractured
unstable pigments or covered with poisonous lead into a number of independent kingdoms. The
glazes, they were decorative but of very limited use kingdoms most important for the continuation of
to the living. This made them even more desirable indigenous Chinese culture were all located in the
for burials, as they held no attraction for tomb
southeast and all had their capitals in Nanjing. The
robbers. manufacture of stonewares burgeoned in the south.
STONEWARE FROM THE SHANG Among the earliest ceramic centers to become
DYNASTY TO THE SIX DYNASTIES
famous by name are theYue kilns of Zhejiang
PERIOD Province, not far from Nanjing. They were the
earliest kilns to make stonewares with glazes that
In the production of these various earthenwares were applied in a liquid state and therefore evenly
since the Neolithic period, China was no more covered the whole vessel (cats. 119, 120). In color
these liquid glazes, whose yellowish olive tone was
advanced than most other countries. The important
derived from oxidized iron, are similar to ash glazes;
and unique development of Chinese ceramics but they tend to be brighter and more intense since
toward the production of porcelain took a separate the contents of a liquid glaze can more easily be
route. Its origins can be traced back to the Bronze
manipulated than those of wood ash.Yue ware was
Age, when stonewares began to be produced made in much greater quantities than earlier
simultaneously with earthenwares, but at different stonewares, both tor daily use and tor burial.''
kiln centers and for different purposes.
During this multistate period China was more
The Shang dynasty gray-green jar in the exhibition receptive than ever before to foreign goods and
(cat. 118) may have been considered less attractive ideas. Probably the most significant influence came
than its white earthenware contemporary (cat. 117), from Western Asia with the introduction of
but technically it is far more sophisticated. It has a
stoneware body and a natural glaze derived from Buddhism. The southern kingdom ofWu (220-80),
wood ash. Fired at a high temperature (over
1200 C), its body became hard and completely in whose domain theYue kilns were situated, was
dense and wood ash on its surface turned liquid, one of the first to embrace the new religion. Yue
wares therefore show some of the earliest Chinese
forming a glaze over part of the vessel. representations of the Buddha (cat. 120). 7
Since its properties are very similar to those of As Buddhism spread throughout China it brought
porcelain, even though it is neither white nor
translucent, this type of ware is referred to as with it such foreign motifs as lotus flowers,
protoporcelain. It was by far the most advanced and
practical ceramic ware of its period. Yet compared palmettes, and applied decorations suggestive ol
with contemporary bronzes, whose complex forms
and intricate designs seem to have absorbed .ill encrusted jewels and strings of pearls. These motifs
artistic efforts of the time, it looks very modest
began to appear on the green-glazed stonewares
indeed. Whether the porcelain stone that forms the
body materia] was used in a pure state or enhanced from north oftheYangzi River ic.it. [22). Although
by admixtures of kaolin (china clay) and other
Substances, it always remained gray and rather these ceramics with their exotic ornamentation and
co. use. The glaze might have been accidental.
shapes seem to embody the taste of their time and
to represent precious artifacts in winch the period
was otherwise poor, the most elaborate pieces were
destined for burial; only the simpler ones were
intended lor s
use.
CERAMICS IN CHINA: MAKING TREASURES FROM EARTH 125
