| anhua | Chinese term which refers to decoration which is faintly incised on the body of the procelain ware before glazing. | Picture |
| antimony yellow | A low-fired enamel with antimony as the colourant. First used on Falang cai wares and subsequently form part of the famille rose (fencai) palette. | |
| armorial porcelain | Porcelain decorated with coat-of-arms of owner. In the 16th century some Europeans ordered custom made porcelains from Jingdezhen decorated with coat-of-arm and insignias. The earliest know example was that ordered by the Portuguese King Manuel I. It became a very popular form of decoration during the 17th and 18th century and mainly painted using famille rose enamels. | Picture |
| black glaze | A glaze which contains 8 - 10% iron oxide will fire at high temperature to black or dark brown colour. Black glaze ware was first produced in substantial quantity during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Development of black glaze ware reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with Jian kiln producing interesting black temmoku wares with hares' fur and oil spots effects. The Northern China kilns also produced excellent black wares with oil spots and those with iron-rust splashes and painted motif. | |
| blanc de Chine | Ivory colour chinese porcelain first produced in Dehua kiln in Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty. | Picture |
| blue and white ware | Refer to decoration painted with cobalt oxide on the body of vessel before glazing. The decoration is therefore under the glaze. First blue and white was made in Tang Dynasty in Gongxian kiln in Henan. There was no further development until it was perfected during the Yuan Dynasty. It became the mainstream porcelain product during the Ming and Qing Dynasty. | |
| blue glaze | Blue glaze is produced with cobalt oxide as the colourant under high temperature. The best know blue ware is sacrificial blue, ie ji nan in chinese, made during the Ming Xuande period. The colour is rich and brilliant in tone. | |
| Bo gu design | Bo gu design consisted of decoration of archaic vessels commonly termed objects of antiquity and was popular during the Qing dynasty. | |
| body | Mixture of material that forms porcelain. Also call "paste". | |
| cartouche | A scroll-edged panel. | Picture |
| Canton ware | Chinese export porcelain characterised
by design of flower and figure panels, gold gilded and with green-scrolled ground.
Also called Rose Medallion.
During the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou was the only port authorised to handle trade with the European traders. The Chinese merchants ordered white-glaze porcelain wares from Jingdezhen and arranged for them to be painted in Guangzhou with overglaze decorations favoured by the European. Hence, such ware was termed Canton wares, Canton being the old English pronunciation for Guangzhou. |
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| Celadon | Refer to Chinese Greenware ("qingci") with varying tone of green which is derived from glaze colour with a small percentage of iron oxide when fired under reduction atmosphere. It will become yellowish to brownish color if fired under oxidising atmosphere. Strictly speaking, it is also a class of celadon. | |
| Chai kiln | A famous ware allegedly produced for Chai Rong, Emperor Zhizong of Zhou during the 5 Dynasties. So far, the kiln site has not been found. Chai ware was said to be 'blue as the sky, glossy as a mirror and thin as paper and ring like a chime when struck'. Some ceramics experts have variously suggested ying qing wares and northern Dynasty yaozhou which have a bluish tine as the legendary chai ware. However, their arguments have not been accepted widely. | |
| Changsha ware | Tang wares produced
in Tongguan kiln in present day Wazhaping in Changsha of Hunan
province. It was famous for the underglaze (in-glaze) iron-brown
and copper green decorations consisting of wide ranging motifs including human
subject, bird, plants, animals, calligraphy, landscape and fishes. It
was the first time in the chinese ceramics history that underglaze decorations
was produced on a wide scale. Changsha ware was also a famous
export item during the Tang dynasty and could be found in Southeast
Asia, west Asia and all the way to Middle East.
For more information, please read: Changsha ware |
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| Chilin | Refer to kylin | |
| China | Refer to porcelain from China but loosely used as substitute for porcelain now | |
| Cizhou ware | A famous Song/yuan
ware that was produced by many kilns in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Jizhou in
Jiangxi. The most representative product was underglaze iron-black/brown
decoration on milky white glaze. The Cizhou kiln complex also produced
many wares using interesting curved, incised and sgraffiato techniques.
Some of the cizhou kilns in Henan and Shanxi were also pioneers in producing
overglazed enamelled red, green and yellow decoration.
For more informaiton, please read: Cizhou ware |
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| Cobalt blue | Pigment made from cobalt oxide which produce the underglaze blue-and-white colour decoration. | |
| comb pattern | Lines form by the teeth of comb-like tool. | |
| cong | An archaic form of vessel used initially for ritual purposes. In the Chinese culture, the earth is considered as square and heaven round. The cong is symbolic of heaven and earth as it has a round mouth and square body. | Picture |
| copper red glaze | A bright red colour glaze created by glaze with copper oxide and fired at high temperature in reducing atmosphere. First found in significant quantity on Tang Changsha wares and Jun wares of Song/Yuan period. The best red glaze was produced during the Ming Yongle/Xuande period. The technology for producing copper red glaze was lost after Xuande and revived during the Kangxi period and called Lanyao hong ie Langyao red. Copper oxide is volatile and hard to control duirng firing. Hence, successfully fired red glaze vessels are difficult to find. | |
| coral red | A low-fired iron red glaze with a yellow tine resembling the colour of coral. It was created during the Kangxi period and popularly used during the Qing period as the base glaze for overglaze decorations. | |
| carved porcelain | Term ke ci in chinese. The motif is carved on the fired porcelain and usually coloured black with ink. It was popular during the late Qing period. Diamond tools were used to carve the lines. | |
| Dehua kiln | Famous kiln in the
Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing period. During the Song/Yuan period, it
produced mainly white and qingbai wares. It's most famous product, white
ware known overseas as Blanc de chine, was first produced during the late Ming
period. The ware is ivory white in colour and highly treasured in
Europe. It's translucent body is low in iron and high in potassium and
has a pinky tinge when views through the light. Vessels produced were
varied, consisting of censors, cups, zun vase, wine cups with rbanches of
prunus in relief and various form of religious and European subject figurines.
During the Qing period, Dehua kiln was a major producer of blue and white wares. For more information, please read: Fujian Trade Ceramics |
Picture |
| Diaper pattern | Repeated pattern, usually geometric form such as diamond-shape. | |
| Ding ware or Ting ware | Ivory white glaze porcelainous ware
produced in ancient Dingzhou (in today's Ding County in Hebei) during
the Northern Song to Yuan Period. It is famous for the impressed
decoration which is sharp and clear. The most often quoted
characteristics is the tear marks on the glaze. This is actually some
accumulation of glaze caused during the glazing process.
For more information, please read : Ding ware |
Picture |
| doucai | Chinese term which means contrasting or contending colours. Characterised by motif outlined in underglaze blue and completed with wash of overglaze enamels. First produced during the Ming Chenghua Period. | Picture |
| enamels | Colours used for overglaze drawing drawing on porcelain. Made from glass paste pigmented with metallic oxide. | |
| Export ware | Refer to trade ceramics | |
| fahua | Chinese porcelain produced in the Ming dynasty decorated with glazes of different colours separated by raised lines. For the Jingdezhen Fahua, the outline of motif and lines are first incised on the bod. The lines are then filled with slip to create relief outlines of the motif and partition lines. After firing, the various portions outlinee are filled with the required enamel. Upon completion, the vessel is fired at a lower temperature. | Picture |
| fa lang cai | Also termed enamel decoration. It was first created during the Qing Kangxi period. The white porcelain vessels were made in Jingdezhen and sent ot the Enamel work to be painted with enamel designs by court artists and then fired. Usually the motif is painted on yellow, blue, red, pea green or reddish purple ground. Kangxi period fa lang cai consisted of mainly floral motif. More varieties, including landscape, birds, poetic inscription, western painting, were introduced during the Yongzheng period. It has a embossed red or yellow reign mark such as 'kangxi yu zhi', 'yongzheng yu zhi', 'da qing yongzheng yu zhi' or 'qianlong yu zhi'. Sometime fa lang cai ware is also termed as gu yue xuan (ie pavilion of hte ancient moon) porcelain. | |
| fambe glazes | A type of glaze effect created by natural flowing and mixing two or more glazes. | |
| famille rose | Literally means pink family. First produced during the late Kangxi period in which the predominant colours are opaque enamel pinks and carmines. The pink is obtained by adding a minute amount of colloidal gold to a lead oxide-potassia-silica base. The best famille rose pieces were produced during the Qing Yongzheng period. | Picture |
| famille noire | Class of famille-verte porcelain with a black ground. The black effect is achieved by first applying a coat of cobalt. This is covered by a second coating of copper-green lead-based enamel. | Picture |
| famille verte | It is essentially a type of wu cai developed during the Ming Dynasty.
Literally
famille verte means green family as the use of overglaze green enamel occupied
an important place in the overall colour scheme. The term famille verte
was first used for enamelled chinese porcelain of Kangxi
period. During the Kangxi period, important new enamels created were
cobalt black and blue.
Other enamels which produced color such as iron-red, blue ,yellow and aubergine are also part of the wu cai /famille verte palette. |
Picture |
| feldspar | Ingredient found in petuntse which fuses and vitrfies at 1450 to about 2600 degree centigrade. | |
| flux | Substance that promotes fusion and lowers the melting point of substances. Glaze fluxes enable glaze to vitrify at a relatively lower temperature. Fluxes in pigments enable the colouring mineral oxides to adhere to the body in a low-firing temperature. | |
| garniture | Set of 3,5 or 7 cylindrical and baluster-shape jars and vases to decorate a mantelpiece. | |
| gilding | Application of gold to overglaze design especially common on imari ware. | Picture |
| glaze | A form of glass-like material applied over the body of ceramics ware which becomes smooth, hard and translucent after firing. With the addition of colorant, coloured glaze is produced for eg. with iron oxide, celdon color glaze is produced. | |
| gold thread and iron wire | Chinese term to describe crackled ware with large greyish black iron-colour and small brownish golden crackles. | |
| greenware | Another term for celadon ware | |
| ground base | Background colour, usually refering to monochrome. | |
| guanyao | Chinese ware made for the Song Imperial
palace. There are the Northern and Southern Song Guanyao. Usually
the glaze is cracked and color tone ranges from grey, yellowish to bluish
green. The most famous Northern Song Guan ware identified is ru
ware. During the Southern Song period, two imperial kilns were built, ie
Xiuneisi and Jiaotanxi.
For more information, please read: Song guanware |
Picture |
| hard paste | Another term for true porcelain which consists of kaolin and petuntse. | |
| hares' fur | Crystalised golden, brown or silver streaks found on black tea bowls, the most famous were those from Jian kiln in Fujian. | |
| heaped and piled effect | Accidental effect on Yuan and early
Ming blue and white porcelain resulting from cobalt high with iron oxide
which accumulated at certain spots on the underglaze painting.
For more information, please read: Yuan porcelain |
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| Imari | Japanese porcelain produced at Arita and shipped from the port town of Imari in the late 17th and 18th century. Characterised by an underglaze blue and overglaze iron-red and gilding. | Picture |
| iron rust motif | A type of decoration used during the Song/Yuan period. The motif is drawn on the glazed vessel using iron rich pigment before it is fired at 1300 degree centigrade. | |
| Jizhou ware | Jizhou kiln is
situated in Yonghe （永和）in
Ji'an （吉安）in
Jiangxi province. During the Southern Song period, Jizhou kiln developed
a distinctive decorative technique which involved sprinkling a lighter glaze
over a darker base glaze to produce the so called the tortoise shell and tiger
fur effects. They may have a dry mouldy mottled quality or could be more
transparent and glossy if fired at a higher temperature. There were many
other varieties of mottled effect.
For more information, please read : Jizhou ware |
Picture |
| Jian kiln | Famous kiln in Jianyan in Fujian which made black glaze temmoku tea bowls. Jian kiln is famous for the temmoku bowls with hares' fur and oil spots effects. The temmoku bowls with marks such as jinzhan and gongyu on the outer base were made for imperial palace use. | |
| Jun ware | The Jun kiln used iron
and copper oxides to fire an opacified bluish glaze with red or purplish
splashes. Vessels included flower pots, washers, dishes, censor, bowls,
zun and etc. Some of the flower pots/stands have number (1-10)
carved on their base. It has been established that the number is an
indication of the size. Some vessels also have inscription such as
fenghua (奉华） and
sheng fu （省符）. The
Imperial Jun kilns at Baguadong (八卦洞）and
Juntai （钧台）were
located in Yu county（禹县） in
Henan.
Folk kilns in Henan also produced Jun wares but the number of Song/Jin wares excavated were few. The best Jun from the folk kiln were produced at Liu Jiamen (刘家门窑）。 During the Yuan period, Jun ware grew in popularity in Northern China. The number of kilns making Jun wares was enormous covering Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia . The vessels consisted of mainly bowl, plates and with small number of jars, censers and vases. Interestingly, no Jun wares was excavated in region south of the Yangzi river. They were essentially made for use domestically in Northern China. Yuan Jun vessels are typically heavily potted and have unglazed footring and base. For more on Jun ware, please read this article. |
Picture |
| kakiemon | Japanese porcelain decorated usually in the famille verte style by the Kakiemon family in Arita. One distinguishing characteristic of Kakiemon is the milky-white body with an almost completely colorless glaze as contrasted with the blue cast on other Arita products. | Picture |
| kaolin | A white clay which is mixed with petuntse to form true porcelain | |
| kendi | Derived from sanskrit word "kundika". Vessel used to contain water for drinking and cleansing. It has a globular form with a vertical neck and short spout. On chinese ceramics, it first appeared on white and celadon wares during the Tang Dynasty. | |
| kiln | Facilities
for firing ceramics. It consisted of a firing chamber, fire-box and
chimney. There are many types of kilns , the most famous being the
dragon kiln used commonly in Southern China.. The structure is built
along the hill slope and consisted of the fire-box at the lower end, the
tunnel (which could range from length of 30 -200 metres) and flues at
the tail end to channel away the smoke. There are fire-holes along the
tunnel wall for side stoking. The source o f fuel for heat is
wood.
The bun shaped kiln (also termed man tou kiln in chinese) was commonly used in Northern China. The dome shaped structure at the front consisted of the combustion chamber and the firing chamber and the chimney at the end. The source of fuel for heating is coal. The firing capacity is much smaller than that of the dragon kiln. |
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| kiln furnitures | Refers to items such as saggars, tube props, spurs, ring-setters and etc which are used to support and protect the porcelain wares from staining, glaze adhesion and damage during firing. The saggars also enable more pieces to be stacked in the kiln for each firing. | |
| kinrande | Japanese term for group of porcelain with gold decoration popular during the Ming Jiajing and Wanli reigns. | |
| kraak ware | Dutch term for Chinese blue and white porcelain exported to Europe. Named after the Portuguese merchant ship called a carrack captured by the Dutch in 1604 and which carried such type of blue and white porcelain. This class of porcelain is characterised by a central theme on the inside bottom of bowl or plate together with panels of medallions on the sidewalls. | |
| kylin | Also spelled Chilin. An auspicious mythical beast with dragon-like head. | |
| lead powder | Used in ceramics production as a flux to lower the melting temperature of glaze. The firing temperature for lead glaze is between 700 to 900 degrees centigrade. The earliest form of lead-glaze wares were the green and brown colour glazed wares produced during the Han Dynasty. Also used together with enamels for over-glazed decorations on ceramics which is fired a lower-temperature to adhere the enamels to the glazed body. | |
| Li Ling underglaze polychrome porcelain | Liling in Hunan produced an innovative underglaze polychrome decoration during the beginning of 20th century. | |
| longquan celadon | Famous greenware
produced by the Lonquan kilns in Zhejiang during the Song, Yuan and Ming
period. During the Northern Song period, its products was influenced by
Yue wares. During the late Southern Song period, it produced the famous
powdered green and meziqing (plum-green) glaze which involved multi-layer of
glaze application. They are treasured for their pleasing silky and jade
like texture.
For more information, please read: Longquan celadon |
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| throwing | The shaping of porcelain on the wheel. | |
| lute | To seal with fluid clay slip. | |
| Mandarin pattern | Enamelled Chinese ware from the 18th to late 19th century with human figures bordered by diaper patterns. |
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| marbled ware | Term qiao tai in Chinese. It is also some called wood grain pattern, pheasant's wing pattern or feather pattern. The effect is created by kneading white and brown clay to form the body of the vessel. Sometime, only thin layer of the kneaded clay is laid on the body of the vessel instead. The vessel is than glazed and fired. This method was first created during the Tang Dynasty and found on vessels such as cup, pillow, and bowls. The major production site was kilns in Gongxian in Henan province. During the Song Dynasty, kilns in Henan such as Dangyangyou was famous for producing such wares. | |
| marbled glaze | The marbled effect is created by adding a coloured glazed to a base colour. After stirring, the mixed glaze is applied to the vessel before firing. | |
| meiping | Baluster-shaped vase with high shoulders and a short neck which first appeared during Song Dynasty. "mei" means prunus in Chinese and "ping" is vase. It is widely thought to be made to hold a single spray of prunus. In actual fact, during Song Dynasty, meiping was a vessel used to hold wine. |
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| Min yao | Chinese term for folk kiln porcelain produced in Jingdezhen during the Ming and Qing period. This is to distinguish them from the porcelain produced in the Imperial kiln which is termed guan yao. | |
| Mi se Yue ware | Greenware
first produced during the Tang Dynasty and continued to be produced till Early
Northern Song period. The term mi se appeared in poems and many terms were
used to describe the colour of the ware. In 1987, 13 greenwares were
excavated from the base of the pagoda in Famen Temple and a list of the items
indicated that they were mi se porcelain. The meaning of the term mi se
is still not clear. Based on the excavated pieces, the colour are
generally greenish in colour but there are some with greenish yellow
glaze. The quality of the pieces are consistently superb.
For more information, please read: Yue ware |
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| moon-flask | Disc-shaped vase with short neck and a handle on each the side of the body. |
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| mullite | A form of crystal formed in porcelain body during high firing. They form ingredient which gives strength to the porcelain and usually compared to as the bone component. | |
| xin cai | A form of imported enamels introduced during the 20th century from overseas. The palette has a wide varieties of color which appear smooth and even visually. | |
| oil spot glaze | A crystalline form of black glaze. The oil droplets on the glaze is the result of crystalised iron oxides which have precipitated to the glaze surface with air bubbles during firing. The most famous oil spot glaze can be found in Jian temmoku bowls. Other Northern China kilns also produced such black wares. | |
| over-glaze | Decoration painted on a glazed porcelain which has been fired.. To ensure the decoration adhere on the glaze, upon completion of the painting, it is fired at a lower temperature. | |
| patridge feather pattern | Refer to a silvery white type of oil spot which resemble the white spots found amidst the feathers on a patridge's breast. | |
| pea green glaze | A form of celadon glaze first found in Longquan ware of Song/Yuan period. It's colour is that of the pea ie green with tinge of yellow. The Ming/Qing pea green is lighter ain tone and usually decorated with moulded, panelled blue and white or overglazed enamelled motif. Termed dou qing in chinese. | |
| peach-bloom | Glazed developed during the Kangxi period using copper oxide as the colorant in the glaze and is applied on the body by blowing. It has a very low successful firing red as it involves very sophisticated control of kiln atmosphere to achieve the desire effect. The typical peach-bloom is soft pinkish red that darkens in some parts and pales . Often a bright moss green, either in patches or in small specks appears on the glaze. |
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| petuntse | Porcelain wares can be made with materials consisting of two main ingredients, kaolin and petuntse which when fire to about 1280 degree centigrades and higher becomes hard, vitirified, translucent and usually white. | |
| plum green | Termed mei zi qing in Chinese. Other than powdered green, this is the best product produced of Longquan kiln during the Song./Yuan period. The glaze is jade-like, luminous and resemble the colour of green plum. The thick glaze is created through multiple applications of glaze. | |
| porcelain stone | A rock with quartz, sericite (hydromica) and small amount of kaolinite and feldspars. Commonly found in Southern Chinas. It contains all the necessary ingredients to make porcelain wares. In fact, the early Chinese porcelain wares of South China were made from porcelain stone. Subsequently the potters also added kaolin which strengthen the porcelain and reduced warping during firing. | |
| powder blue | Monochrome blue which appears speckled. To create the effect, glaze with cobalt oxide is blown on the body through a bamboo tube covered with gauze at one end. It is then coated with a transparent glaze and fired at high temperature. |
|
| powder green | A famous celadon product of Song/Yuan Longquan kiln. Compared with plum green, the glaze is more opaque as the firing temperature is lower. Termed fenqing in chinese. | |
| proto-porcelain | Primitive form of porcelainous ware
with green glaze which was first produced in the Shang Dynasty. According
to the Chinese ceramics experts, proto-porcelains evolved to true
porcelain by the Eastern Han Dynasty.
For more information, please read: Proto-porcelain |
|
| Qianjiang porcelain | A type of fencai
enamelled wares produced during the late Qing to Republican period. The
main difference is how the black enamel is applied as compared with
tradiitional fencai ware. Forr fencai, the black cobalt outline is first
applied and then covered with a layer of a transparent lead-based substance so
that it would adhere to the glaze after firing. Whereas for Qianjiang
painting, the lead is mixed with cobalt and applied directly to the glazed
surface. Due to the difference with application technique, fencai black
is glossy while that on Qianjiang is pale black in colour.
The qianjiang porcelain is now valued for its excellent painting which were painted by potters who are skilled in chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. They are similar to ink painting on paper in terms of technique and composition. For more information, please read: Qianjiang Porcelain |
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| qingbai | Refer to yingqing | |
| robin egg glaze | Term lu Jun glaze in Chinese. It's a form of low fired glaze with mottled drippings pattern. Those from the Yongzheng period has larger mottled drippings and shows more red than blue and those from Qianlong has smaller mottled drippings with more blue spots. | |
| rose medallion | Refer to Canton ware | |
| Ruyao or Ru ware | Chinese imperial Song ware made
in Ru kiln which is situated at Baofeng County in Henan. The ware
is characterised by its sky-blue crackled glaze, ash-gray body and fine sesame
shaped spur mark on the outer base.
For more information, please read Guanware |
|
| Ruyi | Heart-shaped design used as a border. | |
| Saggar | Container made of refractory material to contain ceramics in the kiln to protect it from ash and direct flame. Termed xia obo in chinese. It was first used in 'Xiangyin kiln in Hunan during the Sui Dynasty. |
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| sang de boeuf | French word which means ox-blood; a brilliant-red glaze developed during the Kangxi period using copper oxide as the colorant. In Chinese, it is called Langyao red. The glaze tends to be thicker, redder and glassier than the xianhong pieces of the same period. It has a whitish rim where the glaze run down during firing. The chinese aptly called it "lampwick" effect." Another characteristics is the numerous fine crackles on the glaze. |
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| secret colour ware | Refer to mi se ware | |
| sgraffito | Decorative design drawn by incising through the slip to reveal differently colour body beneath. A popular method used by the Cizhou potter. |
|
| sherds | Fragments of porcelain found in
kilnsites.
To find out more about sherds of some famous kilns, please read: Famous kilns sherds |
|
| shu-fu ware | Chinese white glaze porcelain produced
during the Yuan Dynasty. The glaze is opaque with a greyish white colour
tone. As there were many pieces with the moulded word "shu fu" meaning
privy council, it is commonly termed shu-fu ware. Also termed luan bai
glaze.
For more information, please read: Shufu ware |
|
| shuko greenware | Refer to Tongan greenware produced in Fujian. The glaze usually has a yellowish tinge and vessels are decorated with combed/carved floral motif. Shuko is a Japanese monk who was a Japanese tea ceremony master. He favoured Tongan made bowls for the tea ceramony. Hence, such type of bowls was associated with him and the term shuko qingci (greenware) was coined. | |
| slip | Liquid or diluted clay usually used to cover the coarse body before glazing. | |
| soft paste porcelain | Also termed wei ci in chinese. It has a soft paste white body with a yellowish tine and a crackled glaze. The body is thin and light. It was popular during the Kangxi period and mainly found on vases or jars with impressed or blue and white motif. | |
| sometsuke | Japanese term for blue and white wares. | |
| sprigging | Attaching of low-relief moulded ornaments on the body of porcelain with slip | |
| spur | Referring to the
stilts (usually 3 to 4 but could be more) on a ring or flat
pads. The vessel is placed on top of the stilted ring or flat pads
during firing. After firing the glaze of the vessel will adhered
to the tip of the stilts. The stilts are knock off. Hence, you
will find spur marks on the base of the vessels.
Instead of the stilts, the support could also be in the form clay strips or small clay balls. |
|
| stone ware | A western classfication of a type of ceramics between earthenware and porcelain. It is partially vitrified but not translucent. The term is not used in Chinese ceramics. Some of the chinese porcelain such as early greenware and Jun ware were classified as stoneware by western scholar as they are not translucent. | |
| Sumali blue | It is an
imported cobalt used for decoration of Yuan and early Ming blue and
white. Also called 'su bo ni qing' or 'su bo ni blue' in Chinese.
It contains high iron oxide and low manganese and produced a brilliant and
rich blue colour and showed charactertisic 'heaped and piled' effect due to
the higher iron oxide.
For more information, please read: Yuan Porcelain |
|
| Swatow ware | Export porcelain
wares painted with underglaze lue and white and overglaze enamelled decoration
and commonly found in Southeast Asia. The characteristics usually
associated with swatow wares is the sand grits on the outer base and footring.
The kilns which produced such wares were located in Zhangzhou in Fujian.
For more information, please read : Zhangzhou ware |
|
| Symbolism | Many of the motifs on
chinese ceramics were meant to convey an auspicious symbolical meaning.
Some are easy to understand once we know the quality traditionally attached to the object. For example, the pomegranate represents fertility as it has many seeds and peach for longevity. Another category is the rebus design which utilised the similarity of the pronunciation for the object and and another character/word to convey the meaning. For example, the bat is used as the chinese pronunciation for both bat and happiness is fu. For more information, please read: Symbolism on Chinese Ceramics. |
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| Tang Jun | A type of black ware with opacified white bluish glaze splashes which was produced during the Tang Dynasty and Lushan and Jiaxian kiln in Henan province. It is believed that it inspired the production of Jun ware during the Song dynasty. | |
| tea-dust glaze | Specked dark brown glaze of greenish hue very much like ground tea leaf. First seen on Yaozhou wares during Tang Dynasty. The most successful and famous ones are those made during the Yongzheng and Qianlong period. The colorant is the 6 to 10 percent iron oxide in the glaze. |
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| temmoku | Japanese term for black glaze ware. Widely thought to be black glaze tea bowls made in Jian Kiln in Fujian. They were brought back to Japan by Monks who studied in the temples at Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang province. They were greatly appreciated by the tea-ceremony masters and termed temmoku. Another theory was that the black glaze wares were first discovered at the Tianmu mountain at Jianan in Fujian. Hence, originated the term temmoku. . The famous temmoku wares are those type with hare-fur glaze and oil-spot glaze. From Jizhou kiln, there are the famous leaf and paper-cut temmoku. |
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| throwing | The shaping of porcelain on the wheel. | |
| thermoluminescence (TL) dating | When a crystalline substance is exposed to radiation, electron displacement will take place within its crystal lattice as a way of storing the energy from the radiation. The energy can be released as a form of light when such a substance is heated. This light emission is called thermoluminescence (TL). An ancient piece of porcelain is exposed to radiation over a period of time and more energy is stored the older it is. During TL testing, the porcelain sample is heated to release the energy. The more intense the energy, the older is the age. | |
| Tian bai ware | The term literally means sweet white ware. It is a a white ware created during the Ming Yongle period. Usually it is incised with motif before glazing. | |
| Tongan greenware | Refer to Shuko greenware. | |
| Trade ceramics | The earliest group of
ceramics excavated overseas in Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, West Asia and
Middle east were Xing white ware, Yue greenware, Changsha ware and small
quantity of san-cai ware from the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty period was the first significant phase of export of Chinese ceramics. The greatest phase was probably during the Song/Yuan period. Major type such as Yue and Longquan greenware, white/Qingbai/shufu ware, black temmoku ware and also Yuan period blue and white. Ming period saw the immergence of the European involvement in the spice and ceramic trade. Major players inlcuded Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish. During the late Ming Wanli period, a type of customise blue and white, known as kraak ware was custom made for the European market. Another significant product was blanc de chine ware. During the 18th/19th century Qing period, large amount of blue and white and overglaze enamelled wares with customised designs favoured by the European market were created and exported. |
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| Transitional ware | Refer to porcelains produced at Jingdezhen between the the last year of Wanli 1620 A.D to 1683 A.D, the 22nd year of the Kangxi reign. |
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| transmutation glaze | Used to describe the appearance of unexpected colour in the glaze after firing. Some common examples are the Jun glaze, Tang Jun, Langyao red and etc. The fambe glaze is also considered to be a form of transmutation glaze. | |
| tureen | Deep covered soup or vegetable dish. | |
| underglaze | Coloured decoration applied to the biscuit which is then cover with glaze and fired. | |
| Wuchai | It is the term used for a form of overglaze enamelled ware of the Ming Dynasty. The earliest know examples were found in the Xuande period. Although termed wu cai (meaning 5 colour), usually only 3 colours ie red, green and yellow were used for the decoration. The use of more enamles was popular during the Jiajing and Wanli period. In many pieces, part of the decoration was in underglaze blue and termed 'qinghua wu cai' literally meaning blue and 5 colour decoration. | |
| vitrify | To become glass-like. | |
| Yaozhou ware | Famous Northern China
celadon ware produced during the Song/Jin period in Tongchuan in Shanxi.
Yaozhou ware produced a distinctive curved motif which is fluent and strong.
For more information, please read: Yaozhou ware |
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| yellow glaze | Yellow glaze is
created by firing glaze with iron oxide at oxidising atmosphere.
There are two types of yellow glaze: low-fired lead glaze and high fired lime glaze. Low-fired lead yellow glaze was first found on Han earthenware. It usually has a dark brown tone. Also widely used on Tang sancai (tri-colour) wares. The best low-fired yellow glaze with even and pure tone was found in the Ming Hongzhi period. High-fired yellow glaze was first created during the Tang Dynasty. Some kilns producing such wares included Shouzhou kiln in Anhui province and Changsha kiln in Hunan. |
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| yingqing | Chinese term which means shadow
or misty blue. Also refers to as Qingbai in Chinese. It is
a form of glaze with a tinge of blue developed during the Northen Song
Period in Jingdezhen. Due to its popularity, it was also made in
many kilns at many provinces such as Anhui and Fujian.
For more information, pleas read: Qingbai ware |
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| Yue ware | Chinese greenware produced in area
within the ancient state of Yue (in Zhejiang Province) from Eastern
Han to Song Dynasty Period.
For more information, please read: Yue ware |
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| Yuxi blue and white | Blue and white wares
produced in Yuxi in Yunnan during the late Yuan to Ming period.
For more information, please read: Yunnan blue and white |