North China
Sui/early Tang dynasty
Amphora 500s-600s
stoneware with translucent glaze, 30.7 x 14 cm
Purchased 1988

This amphora is inspired by Greek prototypes adapted by the use of dragon heads for handles. It is important technically as an example of the white wares produced just prior to the achievement of true porcelain.

Early Chinese ceramics

The ceramic traditions of China have continued without interruption for over 7000 years. The earliest examples in the collection are pottery vessels made by Neolithic communities in the traditional heartlands of Chinese civilisation, the Yellow River valley. The three principal Neolithic cultures are each identified by a distinctive ceramic tradition: the buff-red pottery of the Yangshao culture in the Yellow River valley, the dark grey to black wares of the easterly Longshan culture, and in the west a variant Yangshao culture which is represented here by funerary urns of the Majia type. During the Bronze Age the ceramic industry progressed from low-fired pottery types to include high-fired wares. The first primitive glazes were introduced around the end of the Shang dynasty (c1000 BCE) and by the beginning of the Han dynasty (3rd century BCE) ceramics had become the defining medium of the arts of China, liberated from being poor imitations of bronze vessels. As China prospered and expanded during the Song dynasty (960-1279), a lively urban culture arose. Art, philosophy and literature were nurtured to the extent that the word 'Song' has become synonymous with sophistication, elegance and quality. The varied and immensely sophisticated ceramic wares produced during this era set an unmatched standard of innovation and technical perfection, and with their eloquent simplicity appear almost modern. This was also the time when imperial patronage of kilns became common practice, greatly enhancing investment in ceramic technology and production.

Hebei province
Northern Song period (960-1125)
Ding ware dish with design of lotus 1000s-1100s
Porcelain with underglaze carved design, rim bound with copper, 4.3 x 19.7 cm
Bequest of Kenneth Myer 1993
581.1993

This dish is characteristic of Ding ware with its warm ivory coloured glaze and the fluent beauty of its carved decoration. The Ding kilns are credited with several ceramic innovations in ceramic technology including the method of firing upside-down. This stopped the thinly-potted larger dishes from warping, but then necessitated the treatment of the unglazed rim which was solved by the application of a copper band

Jiangxi province
Southern Song period (1127-1279)
Jizhou ware tea bowl with slip design of plum blossom c1100s 
Stoneware, 5 x 11.1 cm
Gift of Graham E. Fraser 1988
519.1988

The motif of the plum blossom appears in the art of the Song dynasty from the 1100s with poets, painters and craftspeople delighting in its transient beauty. A popular tea cult also arose at the time with a preference for drinking pale tea out of dark-glazed bowls. In fact the output of the Jizhou kilns was almost entirely tea bowls.

Zejiang province
Southern Song period (1127-1279)
Ge ware tripod censer 1200s
Stoneware with a crackled glaze, 7.5 x 9.8 cm
Bequest of Kenneth Myer 1993
584.1993

The fine lines called crazing were a desired ceramic effect produced by the shrinking of the glaze and further enhanced by rubbing ink into the cracks.