The Invention of Pottery in China
The Art and History of Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain, and Pottery
Sep 21, 2009
Pottery has a long history all over the world, but it was invented in China around 7900 B.C. The earliest known pieces of Chinese ceramics were found in the Heniwan region of Yangyan County, in the province of Hebei. Significant amounts of pottery have been discovered in China at both the Yellow River and the Chang-Jiang River drainage zones. Pottery found in these locations date to the Neolithic age. The pieces include both practical items such as plates and bowls and decorative items such as figurines.
The first pieces of ancient Chinese pottery were not fired, but were rather molded by hand or pressed into molds, and then put into the sun to dry. Because of that, the most ancient forms of Chinese ceramics were not very durable, and other than figurines, only small broken pieces of the earliest Chinese pottery exist today.
The Firing Process Improved Ancient Chinese Ceramics
Over time, there were two major improvements to Chinese ceramics: the throw-clay method was developed and the Chinese learned to fire pottery in the ground. The early Chinese fired the clay at temperatures up to 1100 degrees, which lessened the gap between low-quality pottery and porcelain.
Early in the Yin and Shang Dynasty, kaolin, a very white clay, began being used to make Chinese pottery. Kaolin is a very rare clay only found a few places in the world. At the same time that the white kaolin clay began being used, kilns that can fire up to 1200 degrees were developed. The high temperature combined with the rare and high-quality clay resulted in a final product that was nonporous and very hard. Though not quite the quality of porcelain, this development brought the Chinese very close to mastering the art of porcelain creation.
The Invention of Porcelain in China
Simply defined, porcelain is a very refined type of pottery made with very white clay that is fired at an extremely high temperature. The first piece of true Chinese porcelain was most likely produced during the Tang Dynasty between 618 and 907, but the process wasn’t mastered until the Ming Dynasty (1363-1644). At that time porcelain, which became known as “china” due to its origin, began being exported to Europe and Japan.
Chinese porcelain was valuable and much sought after and was praised by Francis Bacon, Marco Polo and other notable people of the day. By this time the Chinese began using two types of clay to produce porcelain: kaolin and petuntse.
Chinese Pottery Colors
Due to the high temperatures required for firing ceramics, the Chinese were initially only able to create pottery in two colors – cobalt blue and copper red. To add variety, they begin infusing color in the glaze itself and eventually developed colors of over glaze paint that was applied after the first firing. This enabled the Chinese to produce pottery in most any color in intricately detailed designs.
Particularly during the Ming Dynasty, popular Chinese ceramic designs included dragons, phoenixes, plants, animals, and humans pictured in various indoor and outdoor settings.
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