| Many people do not know from where the | | | | figures with the body of a dead person, and the |
| oriental pottery and porcelain were first made, | | | | reopening of undisturbed tombs, has enabled |
| what are their origins. China, Korea and Japan are | | | | students to gain an idea of the wares of the Han |
| the countries that made oriental pottery and | | | | dynasty. |
| porcelain. They are similar to each other in their | | | | These mortuary pieces show that a green glaze |
| designs and styles of ware. This similarity creates | | | | containing lead was commonly in use, and that |
| some confusion for the experts and beginners to | | | | decoration, where present, consisted of painting in |
| identify them properly. And they were marked. | | | | unfixed colors, or of attractive incised patterns. It |
| Many dynasties and emperors of old China | | | | is argued that the tomb wares, intended for the |
| encouraged the potters. | | | | use of the deceased in a future life, were made |
| ORIENTAL pottery and porcelain was made | | | | perfunctorily, and that the hitherto-unidentified |
| principally in China, Korea and Japan. The wares | | | | domestic pieces must have been of better |
| made in these countries, and in those bordering on | | | | workmanship and of a higher artistic quality. |
| the first two, resemble each other superficially, | | | | Then followed a gap of four centuries during |
| and both beginner and expert suffer confusion. A | | | | which no appreciable advances were made, but |
| proportion of the old wares was marked, usually | | | | the years lost in strife and artistic stagnation |
| under the base of the article and in under glaze | | | | were amply made up for by the brilliance of the |
| blue, but just as the shapes and colors of earlier | | | | Tang dynasty. The large tomb figures of horses |
| periods were imitated in succeeding centuries, so | | | | and camels, splashed with glazes of orange-brown |
| were the marks. | | | | and green are among the best-known objects |
| China | | | | made at the time. |
| Many people talk about, and others wonder about, | | | | Time and interment have given the glaze a silvery |
| the dynasties and emperors of old China. It is as | | | | iridescence that lends an added attraction. Dishes |
| well, therefore, to preface this section with a list | | | | and other pieces of the period are less familiar to |
| of those most likely to be of use: | | | | many, but are artistically important in many |
| Dynasties Emperors | | | | instances. Stoneware was brought a stage further |
| Chou About 1122 to 249 B.C. | | | | forward by giving it a white body, and the pieces |
| Han 206 B.C. to A.D. 220 | | | | known as Yueh (abbreviated from Yueh Chou, a |
| T'ang 618 to A.D. 906 | | | | district in Chekiang province where they were |
| Sung 960 to 1279 | | | | made) with their fine celadon glaze, were |
| Ming 1368 to 1644 | | | | produced. |
| Hsuan Te 1426 to 1435 | | | | In the succeeding Sung dynasty, many further |
| Ch'engHua 1465 to 1487 | | | | styles were introduced and older ones developed. |
| Wan Li 1573 to 1619 | | | | Carved and incised designs are found, and |
| Ch'ing 1644 to 1912 | | | | pale-colored glazes of great beauty were used |
| K'ang Hsi 1662 to 1722 | | | | alongside the popular celadon green, which is |
| Yung Cheng 1723 to 1735 | | | | found on pieces, exported to the Near East |
| Ch'ienLung 1736 to 1795 | | | | countries. All these delicately modeled and colored |
| Chia Ch'ing 1796 to 1820 | | | | wares were copied in later Ming times, but apart |
| TaoKuang 1821 to 1850 | | | | from differences in finishing, the early pieces were |
| From before 200 B.C. little pottery has survived. | | | | made of stoneware and the later of true |
| The custom of burying pottery vessels and | | | | porcelain. |