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Porcelain-History
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Porcelain,
also called 'fine china', featuring its delicate texture, pleasing
color, and refined sculpture, has been one of the earliest artworks
introduced to the western world through the Silk Road.
The earliest porcelain ware was found made of Kaolin in the Shang
Dynasty (16th - 11th century BC), and possessed the common
aspects of the smoothness and impervious quality of hard enamel,
though pottery wares were more widely used among most of the ordinary
people.
Anyway it was the beginning of porcelain, which afterwards in
the succeeding dynasties and due to its durability and luster,
rapidly became a necessity of daily life, especially in the middle
and upper classes. They were made in the form of all kinds of
items, such as bowls, cups, tea sets, vases, jewel cases, incense
burners musical instruments and boxes for stationary and chess,
as well as pillows for traditional doctors to use to feel one's
pulse.
The development of porcelain in the Han
Dynasty (206 BC - 220) began to accelerate and before long
the artworks were introduced westward. Celadon (like the color
of jade) and black porcelain wares were the dominant types at
that time. Styles of porcelain had formed and differed based on
regions by then. The Yue Kiln in Zhejiang Province, which has
enjoyed a good reputation for over 2,000 years up to now, produced
delicate and hard >celadon<
porcelain; while the De Kiln became the earliest kiln that baked
black porcelain.
During the Tang
Dynasty (618 - 907), a large number of porcelain wares were
in daily use having been substituted for the ones made of gold,
silver, jade and other materials. With export, Chinese patterns
on these wares also took on more exotic appeal. The Yue and De
kiln of Zhejiang Province had features that were the most popular
ones, and another one, Xing kiln in Hebei Province was greatly
prized for its white porcelain as 'white like snow'. Kilns baking
porcelain for the royalty sprang up producing elegant and dainty
works.
Stepping into the Song
Dynasty (960 - 1279), a variety of genres of porcelain appeared
and it became a fashion that people showed great interest in purchasing
and collecting certain wares suitable to their tastes. Ru, Ding,
Ge, Jun and the official kilns had been the representatives of
that age. Official kilns advocated concise patterns of decoration;
Ru kiln in Hebei Province added treasured agate into glaze so
that the color and texture appeared to be uniquely daintily creamy
and could be compared with jade. Henan Province had two famous
kilns named Jun and Ding kilns. Since the reign of Emperor Huizong
who liked art appreciation, porcelain of Jun kiln was kept exclusively
for the royal family and common people had no right to collect
it no matter how much money they possessed.
Since the artisans made their porcelain wares separately,
there was no repetition among decorative patterns and colors. Thus this made each
porcelain product more precious in its own right. Ding kiln boasted its white
porcelain which has a texture as delicate as that of ivory with an adornment of
black and purple glaze. Distinctive from the other four kilns which stressed color,
this one was quite good at engraving and printing flower patterns. While the Ge
Kiln produced porcelain articles with various grains and produced an amount of
artworks greater than those of the other four.
Oped in the Yuan
Dynasty (1271 - 1368), the >blue
and white< porcelain (Qinghua Ci), in the main stream
of porcelain, was the stylish artistic ware in the Ming and Qing
Dynasties and promoted this period to be the most prolific in
the field of feudal art.
First it painted on the basic body with brush natural cobalt which
would be turned blue after being in the forge. Set off by the
white glaze and covered by the other level of clear glaze, the
blue flowers and other patterns showed their comely charm and
were widely welcomed among both refined and popular tastes. With
the diversity of cobalt, theme, and style of painting, the
>blue
and white< porcelains differed constantly, each being
unique. As we know, the features of porcelain lie in texture of
basic body, color of glaze, decorative pattern, shape and style,
while porcelain at that time had sublimed to be at the most elegant.
The >familiar
rose< porcelain was another highlight that appeared
during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1653 - 1722). The finished
article appears more stereoscopic, colorful, gentle and clean.
Nearly all the refined colored pigments were utilized like ancient
purple, magenta, ochre, emerald, and so on.
Through the development of 4,000 years, now it is
still a brilliant art that attracts many people's interest. Collect your favorite
porcelain article and place it in your room to enjoy the pleasure of it. The Porcelain
Capital, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province which has been praised for thousands of
years, will be certain to satisfy your esthetic appetite.
When yo are interestet in more information about Chinese Porcelain
we show you the different " reign
marks " through the centuries and tell you something
about the symbols
painted on the porclain
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