Painted Pottery A brief history

July 16th, 2007 at 12:02pm Under Pottery

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 were 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.

A Brief History of Porcelain
Neolithic Culture

Ancient China is littered with archaeological sites that date from the Neolithic period through to the advent of the earliest dynasties. The Nanzhuang archaeological site in Hebei, has pottery shards that date back almost 10,000 years. The emergence of an agricultural based society and a consequently more settled, less nomadic lifestyle, lead to an increased demand for pottery products for both cooking and for the storage of grains and crops.

* Fairy Cave - Lishui
* Celestial Caves - Wannian
* Periligang Culture site - Xinzheng
* Cishan Culture site - Wu’an
* Hemudu Culture site - Yuyao
* Banpo Village - Xi’an

Pottery from the Celestial Caves is largely of two types; one is of a thick paste construction using a heavy clay coiled technique and the other is of a finer more refined style. Both types appear to have been in use at the same time.

The development of pottery throughout China is very closely linked to historical events. The various dynasties that dominated everyday life in ancient China for over 4,000 years are a mixture of long periods of relatively peaceful existence interspersed with periods of turmoil and political unrest that lasted for several centuries yet, the developments in pottery continued throughout these periods unabated.

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