Ceramic

Ceramics is the general art of heating common clay to create an utilitarian or ornamental object. All pottery and porcelain are considered ceramic. Pottery is, technically, any object made from a porous clay and baked at a temperature ranging from hot, direct sunlight to baking, or firing, in a kiln at a temperature of about one thousand degrees centigrade. Often pottery is neither hard nor stable. Pigments, or colours, and a glossy glaze can be applied to pottery before firing, producing beautiful results. Or, pottery after firing can be painted with almost any pigment, although the unprotected painted decoration is susceptible to damage. Porcelain, however, is made from a mixture of special clays, often kaolin and feldspar; it is fired at a very high temperature of over fifteen humdred degrees. It is hard and is more durable than pottery. After firing, porcelain can be painted in a rainbow of colours and glazed, then fired at a low temperature to seal the colour and harden the glaze.

Chinese pottery dates back to the Neolithic Age (approximately 8000-2000 BC). The earliest Chinese pottery was often red, brown, and grey. As society porgressed, the quality of pottery gradually improved. Archaeological finds show that primitive celadons were made during the Shang (16th-11th century BC) and Western Zhou (c. 11th century-770 BC). Tests have shown that primitive celadon takes in less water and has a better ring than pottery; therefore it is considered similar to porcelain. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) great progress was made in the application of colours and glazes on items for everyday use. Among the artifacts excavated from the tombs of the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) was a celadon urinal made in the year 251. It indicates that there were specialized teams for porcelain-making at the time.

The greatest advance came in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when potters made further contributions to the production of painted porcelain. Tang srtists created beautiful simple monochrome porcelain finished in tints of burgundy, blue, and celadon. They also produced the famous figurines of people and horses in these three colours that are so loved in the modern world.
In the following Song Dynasty (960-1279) many porcelain kilns were built and different porcelain schools appeared. Song artists continued to produce beautiful monochrome porcelain and perfected the application of both vivid and subtle colours. Song potters also discovered the secret of "crackled" pottery and porcelain which appears so delicate that it seems it might break if touched. Connoisseurs both in China and abroad consider monochrome Song porcelain among the finest examples of Chinese genius in porcelain making.

Later in the Yuan (1271-1368) and especially in the Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, artists continued Song traditions. They discovered a process that invigorated and transformed Chinese porcelain making-the making of blue and white porcelain. Previously potters had never been able to apply colours successfully to a piece of unfired porcelain. Craftsmen discovered, however, that cobalt, which is not native to China, could be applied to unfired pieces, placed in a high-temperature kiln, thereby creating stunningly beautiful patterns of blue on a cream or white base. This style remains popular after nearly seven hundred years.

Late in the Ming Dynasty, and especially in the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasty, potters perfected the application of colourful and realistic polychrome flowers and human scenes. This porcelain impresses with its vividness of colour and subtlety of design. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province was the porcelain centre. There were thousands of kilns working all year round, and several of them served the needs of the imperial court of the two dynasties.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government has tried, with impressive success, to further develop the art of porcelain. Artists, scholars and potters have not only worked hard to restore porcelain to its honoured place in the Chinese decorative arts, but also made bold innovations to improve pottery and porcelain. Today, the main porcelain centres include Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, Langshan in Hebei Province, Yixing in Jiangsu Province, Longquan and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, and Zibo in Shandong Province.
Chinese pottery and porcelain has been exported for far longer than is usually assumed. Pieces of Chinese pottery have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Roman Empire. By the twelfth century large quantities of porcelain passed along the Silk Road and found favour among Arabian potentates who believed that blue and white porcelain would turn black if poisoned food were served on it. In the sixteenth century, after the Dutch dominated the sea lanes to the Orient, large exportations of Ming porcelain went to Europe where it appealed to both aristocratic and middle class families who had previously used more crude local pottery. Chinese porcelain makers changed designs to satisfy European demand, even adding coats-of-arms of prominent families who ordered large consignments. During the nineteenth century, the export of Chinese porcelain to the western world fell drastically. It is only after Liberation that the exporting of high quality, handmade porcelain began to rise.
It is a lasting tribute to Chinese potters that one of their creations, the Yuan-Ming cobalt blue and white style, is popular everywhere in the world and is used in more twentieth century homes than any other style ever created by ceramic artists.