Painted Pottery

Painted Pottery A brief history

Painted Pottery is an art form that has been practiced in China since the Neolithic period.

The early potters of the Neolithic and the Xia Dynasty, decorated their pottery with image that reflected the daily lives of the cultures. The images of fish, animals, people and those of geometric designs were widely distributed throughout the pottery of the early period of pottery history. This was not only so with the Chinese pottery makers but it was a feature common to all potters of all the peoples across the world. The Making of pottery was a characteristic feature of all societies that were engaged in an agricultural based life-style. Pottery was used extensively for storage of grains and for the cooking and preparation of food stuffs. Pottery was an essential part of the daily lives of all the agrarian cultures.

The development of art, culture and the changing nature of the lives of people lead to the creation of new styles and forms of pottery. The ultimate development of pottery was the making of porcelain with its enhanced range and diversity of products. Porcelain became the dominant force in pottery making and was throughout the Zhou, Han and Tang Dynasties a major feature of the art of the Chinese peoples.

The initial stages in the development of porcelain was the increased diversification of the painted pottery. The Xia and Shang periods, are characterized by primitive designs but, these early works were soon replaced by more elaborated creations. The use of painted pottery techniques in the production of figurines during the Han and Sui dynasties is testimony to the advanced nature of the products.

Contemporary Painted Pottery

Painted Pottery continued to be produced throughout all of the dynasties of Chinese history though it has almost always existed in the shadow of porcelain. Along with Celadon porcelain it was the main product used by the people for their day to day activities. Cooking and food preparation was usually done with pottery rather than with porcelain.

From the middle of the Tang Dynasty, porcelain became a more artistic product and was seldom used for domestic purposes; this is especially true for the high quality porcelains produced throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Today, the roles are somewhat reversed, the use of porcelain has tended to become more of a domestically used product and painted pottery an artistic form. Since the late 17th century the production of porcelain has grown to such an extent that it is a common everyday item within most households. Dinner-sets, and " crockery " in general are all to a large extent produced from either porcelain or from " china-ware". China-ware is actually similar to porcelain though it is fired at a lower temperature.

Painted Pottery has become in the last twenty years a product that is almost purely decorative. Seldom is painted pottery ever used as a domestic product. The painted pottery produced today is of a highly decorative nature, the extensive use of colour combined with traditional designs of the Tang and Ming periods create works that are artistic and aesthetically pleasing.

Painted Pottery of the highest quality is produced in Central China around the western city of Chendu. The area has become a center for such works although the quality varies greatly from one producer to the next.

High quality Painted Pottery is characterized by a thin wall construction that is similar to porcelain in nature and combined with brightly coloured enamels that, when added to the ancient raw materials, produces a product with a character and quality that is unique unto itself.

Silkporcelain.com supply a range of painted pottery that is individually selected based on the standards of style, construction and paint quality that is of the highest level.

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