The history of ceramics in china stretches back to the fourth millennium BC and throughout time they have been the envy of the World. Early wares were made from clay which was not well purified and fired at comparatively low temperatures initially unglazed but later covered with a coloured glaze which was thick and opaque. As time went on so the skills of the potters increased until the invention of under-glaze decorated porcelain sometime towards the end of the Yuan period. 

The early periods 

The best known pottery of the Neolithic period comes from the north and is known as Yangshao after the village in Henan where it was first found by archaeologists. There are two types of this ware One with a course grey body with simple incised decoration and the other of a fine grained red pottery often with red and black decoration. 

Yangshao vessel Neolithic period 

There is a second type of pottery from this period known as Lungshan after a hill in Shandong and is of a grey, red, black or yellowish buff body. This type is important because it is the first time in history that the Potter’s wheel was used. 

Bowls, beakers, cauldrons and vases were produced and similar wares continued to be made for many years with little change apart from the addition of glaze from around 1500 BC with bronze casting taking priority over the production of ceramics. 

Many of the wares from the Han period (206BC-220AD) have been found in tombs because at this time the Chinese believed, as did many cultures, that the dead needed all manner of artifacts to take with them on their journey in to the afterlife. These are mostly of red earthenware covered with a lead glaze and have been fired at quite a low temperature. The glaze is usually green from the addition of copper or brown from the iron already in the clay.

Han period horse painted terracotta  

Unglazed wares were also produced which were often painted with coloured pigments on a greyish coloured clay in imitation of bronzes of the period. Many figures were also produced to go in to tombs mostly of similar unglazed pottery so that the dead person would have plenty of servants. This practice went as far as the production of farms complete with animals and it was not unknown for those left to ruin themselves financially in order to provide their parent with enough wealth for the afterlife. This was, however, an improvement over earlier periods when the actual servants were killed to be buried with their masters. 

Song (960-1279) 

During the reign of the first Song emperor, Chao K’uang-yin, central government was given more power with local government being reduced to a minimum. Rather than trying to invade to the well protected north the south of China was conquered during this period and their culture and technology, which was better advanced than in the north but less well defended, spread throughout the land producing an increase in industry and consequently trade with other countries. Chinese ships of this period were by far the best in the world having greater capacity and manoeuvrability than ships from elsewhere. 

Song period cizhou pillow

Education became much more important and widely available as printing techniques improved. The advance of Neo-Confucianism and greater distribution of books on the subject at this time lead to a society that was less selfish and in particular those who were in power had a more altruistic approach to those around them.

The ceramics of Song were highly advanced and glazes of this period have probably never bean surpassed even by modern studio potters who have much information to hand as well as the advantage of infinitely controllable kilns. 

Qingbai bowl from the Song period

The Emperor Huisong (1082-1135) was responsible for much of the advancement in ceramic manufacture. He was a great connoisseur and ordered many items for the royal court. The number of kilns constructed during the Song dynasty was great and accounts for 75% of all kilns built throughout Chinese history.

Song period henan teabowl 

Wares Produced included ding which had a white glaze, yaozhou with a celadon glaze, jun combining a pale blue often with purple splashes produced by the introduction of copper oxide to the glaze, cizhou with black decoration on a creamy white background, cizhou with multicoloured glazes and jian being dark glazed. 

Large scale kilns were being used and often coal was used in place of wood for fuelling allowing higher temperatures to be attained though it was not so good at producing the reducing atmosphere that was needed for some glaze effects. Stacking of wares in the kiln was experimented with allowing greater numbers of pieces to the fired at a time but the quality was not as good leaving some rough edges. The number of different shapes and glazes was great and would take up too much space to describe them all here but for me the jun glazes are the most beautiful.

 
Jun Yoa dish of the Song period 

As is often the case a higher form of society where there is less need for war and aggression leaves itself vulnerable to attack and in the same way that the less cultured Northern Song dynasty took over the south and was improved by its culture the same was to occur when the Mongolian empire moved in force against China. 

Yuan (1279-1368)

Yuan period cizhou jar  

The Yuan dynasty was founded by the Mongols who invaded China from the north first taking over the Northern Song and moving southward until in 1279 they eventually captured the southern Song capital and the then leader Khublai Khan. Grandson of Genghis Khan adopted the dynastic title of Yuan. The Mongols imposed a strict regime throughout the land and the workers were enslaved with Mongols taking over leading posts in all industries with little restriction as to how they treated the workers. Of course they were not popular with the people of China who eventually revolted and this combined with natural disaster and internal rivalry led to the downfall in 1368. 

Celadon dish of the Yuan period

The Mongols managed to rule for over 100 years and although the regime was unpopular they were responsible for increasing production and trade in China to supply their empire and introducing new technology. For the first time western travellers visited China, among them Marco Polo, who were amazed at what they found with the Royal palace being splendid and filled with an array of luxuries. The Mongols encouraged craftsmanship with the removal of taxation and the setting up of official government sponsored workshops. Children of craftsmen could also inherent jobs from their parents. 

Yuan underglaze red vase and underglaze blue ewer

Large number of ceramics were produced and exported during this period and in Jingdezhen over 300 kilns were operating with the best potters producing wares for the royal court. Under glaze cobalt blue and copper red were used to decorate the wares often with designs taken from textile patterns but also later with designs from Arab art which was becoming popular in China. The first dated examples of under glaze decorated porcelain were produced towards the end of the period and in deed porcelain was produced for the first time on a large scale with the inclusion of kaolin in the clay. 

Ming (1368-1644) 

Although the strict Mongol regime was good for trade and industry the amount of repression that the people had to bear was unacceptable. The Mongols had got the balance wrong and it was not long before the people of china became disenchanted with the Government and started to revolt. Finding a leader who they had faith in, namely Zhu Yuanzhang, the people began to take control and by 1368 Zhu was declared the first Ming Emperor of China. 

15th century blue and white ewer

During the Ming period things ran much more harmoniously and the people were more able to reap the profits of their own labours. The bureaucrats had learned from the mistakes of the previous reign and soon found ways of imposing more control but maintaining a better balance that was more tolerable to the people as well as reducing slavery and improving the ways in which slaves were kept. The government was learning the complexities of controlling the population but at the same time keeping them from becoming too unhappy. Main Government became more centralised and China was divided in to thirteen states making it easier to keep an eye on things. 

Throughout the period there was a growth in trade with the west and an exchange of knowledge was occurring. The best Chinese artisans were employed by the state to produce for the royal court and if necessary force was used to ensure their loyalty with each trade being passed down through the generations, sons and daughters taking on the same work as their parents. 

Wanli period blue and white box and cover

Porcelain became the predominant ware produced by the potters with the quality of body, glaze and decoration reaching to virtual perfection. Fine pieces were commissioned for Royal patronage with the marks of the various emperors placed upon the wares but also fairly roughly made pieces were made for general use in the home throughout society. 

This is probably a good time to point out the fact that the Chinese often placed a mark of an emperor on a piece retrospectively and it is not a good way of dating an item. Wares bearing the mark of the period that were produced in the period are generally much rarer than those which bear the mark and were produced at a later date. Identifying a period of production is a difficult task based upon a number of variables. There is no easy way of assessing a piece of ceramic the knowledge and experience needed taking much work and dedication over many years. Constantly new discoveries and research can reclassify pieces in to different periods.

Transitional 

The period transgressing the Ming and Qing Dynasties is often refered to as the Transitional period which includes the reigns of Tianqi, Chongzhen and Shunzhi. Up until fairly recently it was believed that the wares from this time were not of a particularly high quality the early wares being attributed to the Wanli period and later wares to that of Kangxi. It is now known that contrary to this belief some very fine wares were produced and in fact the artistic skills of the decorators of this time had a freedom and flare that has not been seen in any other period. 

transitional period ewer

With the Ming emperor busy trying to defend the country from the invading forces of the Manchu the potters had a free hand to experiment away from the control of the emperor with decoration often depicting mythological scenes and copying pictures from books of earlier periods. What can be seen though is a gradual evolution from the Ming to the Qing rather than the sudden change that has been assumed in the past. 

Trade with the West suffered though in the earlier part of the period and much porcelain was exported to Japan who were keen to learn the secret of porcelain manufacture. Pieces were produced in the Japanese taste often of unusual shapes such as the ko-metsuke wares until the Japanese learned how to make their own and opened up the market to the West. 

transitional Wucai jar

Sometime towards the end of the seventeenth century improvements in glaze manufacture were made so that where as the glazes from the Ming period tend to have an uneven and often orange peel appearance later glazes from the qing dynasty have a much smoother and tighter fitting appearance. Later potters have, however, imitated earlier glazes on copies of Ming wares. 

Qing (1644-1911) 

The first reign of the Qing dynasty was that of Shunzhi though the style of decoration remained free in the transitional manner until well into the reign of Kangxi. Some beautiful pieces were made through the reign of Shunzhi and it is at this time that the Famille Verte style began to emerge. Although strictly speaking the term Wucai is technically correct as under-glaze blue was still being used as apposed to over-glaze blue enamel which occurred later in the Kangxi Period. Our knowledge of this period has been greatly increased by the discovery of a shipwreck by the salvage expert Michael Hatcher in the early 1980s which sank in 1644 and the works of Michael Butler, Julia B Curtis and Stephen Little. Their book on ceramics of the reign of Shunzhi is a useful tool to anyone interested in this period as well as being well illustrated throughout. 

The next reign was that of Kangxi and during this reign imperial control over the kilns began to be re-established with the appointment of an official to oversee porcelain production. During the early part of the period wares were quite similar to those of the reign of Shunzhi with similar feature as far as shape and decoration were concerned. The famille verte style developed and monochrome glazes were becoming popular such as the peach bloom glaze which was perfected at this time. Peach bloom being the name given to wares decorated with a copper oxide glaze, difficult to fire correctly, with the effect of pink to red mottled with tones of green. The secret of perfecting this copper red glaze was lost early in the eighteenth century and was not again found during subsequent reigns. Mirror black and powder blue were also popular often being decorated with gilding. 

Kangxi period famille verte bowl

The Style of  decoration during the kangxi period had a freeness of style which had developed in earlier times but combined with re-established imperial control over the kilns resulted in a powerful and beautiful culmination. Some good copies of earlier wares were made such as the fine and extremely valuable doucai chicken cups of the Chengua period and the use of enamel decoration directly onto the body was revived and became popular with the application of famille verte enamels. Copies of the Imari style, developed in Japan, began to be made towards the end of the reign to try and gain back some of the market share that the Japanese had taken with this decorative technique being very popular throughout northern Europe. 

Whilst the famille rose enamel first began to be used at the end of the Kangxi period it was not until the reign of Yongzheng that it really came into widespread use. The employment of gold to produce the colour had been introduced from the West and although it took a little while to catch on this style of decoration was to predominate over the centuries to come. 

Yongzheng period famille rose plate

The Yongzheng period was one in which perfection seemed to be the order of the day with the bold designs of the Kangxi period being further refined and enhanced with large amounts of famille rose enamel. Often large fields of the piece were covered leaving panels for pictorial scenes. Doucai decoration, where an under glaze blue outline was then in filled with over glaze enamels, was popular reaching a very high standard with powerfully precise designs. Copies of early glazes were produced like Guan wares often bearing the mark of Yongzheng these being popular with collectors.  

The personal input of the emperors Kangxi and Yonzheng in the production of porcelain helped refine shape, decoration and quality. During these reigns, particularly that of the former, a balance was set between freedom of style and accuracy of manufacture which for me is more pleasing than the technically more restrained pieces from the Qianlong period. The emperor was strongly influential in porcelain production and is known not only to have advised on its manufacture but on occasion to have reprimanded those responsible for shoddy management or workmanship. 

quianlong period vase

The majority of designs were less bold and fiddlier in their execution and whilst it cannot be argued that some superb quality ceramics were made with an almost perfect glaze and tight well controlled decoration they seem to lose the warmth and tactility of the earlier wares.  

Trade with the West continued with high numbers of dinner and tea services being exported often decorated with armorials and family crests though it is not common to find pieces that have survived completely intact over the centuries. Most pieces would have been put to practical use and the hard and brittle nature of the ceramic is responsible for the many damaged pieces which one finds today and it can only be assumed that many more were discarded. 

Of course decorative wares were coming over to grace the large houses of Europe as in previous periods, though perhaps not so many as in the reign of Kangxi, and vases and jars can be found that are up to several feet in height. 

A number of coloured glazes were popular at this time particularly the teadust glaze which had been revived from the Tang and Song periods with other glazes derived from experimentation with this one. 

Throughout the eighteenth century decoration evolved more to suit the tastes of Europeans and by the end some extremely ornate pieces were being produced often the entire body of the vessel was covered in decorative enameling fitting in well with the tastes in Europe from the late eighteenth century into the early nineteenth century the Chinese tastes of this period being less ornate and more refined. 

Jiaqing vase

In the nineteenth century however there was generally a decline in the quality of the wares. The Jiaqing period followed on from the Qianlong with similar decorative styles and quality being produced with the development of the Rose Medallion technique in which a decoratively textured field of coloured enamel covered the object leaving roundels containing pictorial enameling on the white glaze. This style remained popular throughout the nineteen century but was at its best during the reigns of Jiaqing and Daoguang. During the Daoguang period many of the wares produced were in imitation of those from earlier periods including famille verte and doucai. 

Daoguang stem bowl 

 In fact during the nineteen century the decline in quality of wares coming to the west was partly because of the demands of the increasing middle classes wishing to emulate the houses of the established upper classes. Much money was available but the ability to judge quality was not so prevalent and we were becoming more used to the mass production techniques. 

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Westerners had gone into China, first to trade then with our missionaries and then our troops followed and we tried to take control. We were keen to increase our empire and started to decry the ways of the east, their religion there democracy and culture all came under fire. Despite our self righteous attitude during the nineteenth century in Britain we were responsible for illegally trading opium with China and in the supporting of the opium dens which were so damaging to the country’s wellbeing. Conflicts with the West had left China depleted with up to thirty million Chinese being killed and a similar number perishing as a result of famine at this time.  

polychrome dish circa 1870

The early part of the twentieth century was a time of much change in China. The ongoing political situation led to Japan finding favour with Europe and America who admired the Japanese for their organisation and military strength. Whilst China who had recently been defeated by Japan and who were coming under pressure from the West were viewed as weak for their culture had become more delicately balanced. Europe and America had been sorting out the control of various key industries, which they referred to as "carving up the Chinese melon", and the Chinese government did little to stop them. Officials were open to bribery and soon the people became dissatisfied with their leaders’ inability to cope with the onslaught of Western control. 

The only way to deal with the west was to try to learn their ways in order to keep China independent. Students came over and studied the ideas which were being taught in Europe including Marxism. The Chinese had more of an alliance with Russia than with the rest of Europe and America who were supportive of Japan. The events which led to communist control are extremely complex with various warlords having control including for a short period in1916 the re-establishment of an emperor, Hongxian, to rule. These events require much study to understand including the Western role in the changes which now affect modern politics. 

Hongxian period bowl

Despite all these problems the period from the end of the nineteenth century saw better pieces again beginning to emerge with some more individual and artistic styles being appreciated as with the onset of the art nouveau period. Throughout the early part of the twentieth century some surprisingly delicate and beautiful designs were produced with wares from the Hongxian period being particularly well prized among collectors. It is extremely difficult to tell pieces which are genuinely mark and period from those which were produced later in imitation perhaps with just a few years difference between them. 

Japan 

The secret of porcelain did not reach Japan until sometime early in the seventeenth century. Generally it is believed that a Korean potter working in Japan started making porcelain in 1616 however recent research suggests that this could be inaccurate and that in fact its production predates this by some eleven years and that the first person to produce porcelain in Japan was in fact Japanese and was a member of a long line of a potting family in the Arita region. It is thought that wares similar to those produced at Nanking were made here at this time. After a short time the Japanese manufacturer closed his kiln and moved away only for the Korean potters to move in and re-established manufacture. 

Shoki imari water jug 

Korean type wares were made at first but later they started to produce porcelain in the style of the late Ming and this was known as Shoki Imari which was the earliest blue and white porcelain made in Japan. It appears that at this time there was great demand in Japan for porcelain and much was coming over from China as well as that which was being produced locally so many of the Chinese wares had a Japanese influence to their appearance. The Japanese were also exporting their wares to China and they were both probably learning from one another. This was a time of great experimentation in the porcelain industry in Japan with many developments occurring. 

The Dutch East India Company (V.O.C. - Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) started to ship porcelain to Europe where demand would grow to a level which was to make the V.O.C. very prosperous in deed for the next century as they had the monopoly of trade with Japan. During the sixteenth century the troubles in China were helpful to Japan in gaining a strong market hold and it was not until towards the end of the century that China began to pull back some of the trade which it had lost. 

Ko imari jar 

The next major development was that of the Ko Imari style of ware which along side blue and white incorporated the use of coloured glazes and enamels as well as the use of gilding to decorate the pieces. Shapes were also developed to fit in better with the demands of the Japanese and European markets. 

Ko imari ewer 

The Japanese porcelain industry was going from strength to strength the money that was coming in allowed them to improve quality of the product and experiment with different styles of decoration.  This eventually resulted in the type of ware which today is commonly known as Imari where under-glaze blue and predominantly iron red enamel of combined highlighted with gilding and occasionally a small amount of green enamel. 

Imari dish circa 1700

Perhaps the most revered wares of Japan are the Kakiemon named after the family who first produced them. These consist of under-glaze blue and over-glaze yellow, iron red, aubergine and green. Some of these wares can achieve high prices at Auction though the style was copied by contemporary potters as well as later ones in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries both in Japan as well as Europe who had by this time discovered the secret of porcelain production. Blue and white wares were also produced by the Kakiemon family which are renowned for the quality of decoration. 

Kakienon teapot circa 1700

As China began to re-establish trade with Europe and America on a larger scale during the eighteenth century so trade with Japan started to suffer and in 1757 the Dutch East India Company stopped importing from Japan. For the next century the quality of the Japanese wares was to decline and they did not trade with Europe or America until in 1853 they were again forced to open up the boundaries. 

The second half of the nineteenth century was to become a great time for the Japanese arts as both European and American Industries were flourishing producing a larger number of wealthy people who were to buy the wares. There was a craze for anything Japanese and the western designers were quick to respond by copying them and producing their own interpretations of the Japanese style. The Japanese showed what they were capable of by improving the quality to a very high degree and some superb pieces were made including large chargers decorated in a revival of Imari style. This was to continue until World War I which was responsible for deterioration in quality throughout the world. 

Imari charger circa 1900