Chinese porcelain

Procelain is generally believed to have originated in China. Although  photo-porcelain wares exist dating from the Shang Dynasty, by the Eastern Han Dynasty (100-200CE) high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, and porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty period (618-906) was exported to the Islamic world where it was highly prized. Early poecelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain, or sancai wares. Historian S.A.M Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after Tang, during the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty.

By the Sui and Tang dynasties, porcelain had become widely produced. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to creat it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century, it was being widely imported to Europe.

Chinese Qing Dynasty

Chinese,1644-1911

Bowl with "Rice Crain" Decoration, probably Qianlong period, 1736/1795

procelain with colorless glaze

overall: 12.5x20cm (415/16x77/8 in.)

The elegant vessel has the shape of a Buddhist monk's begging bowl. Floral decoration is pierced through the body in the so-called "rice-grain" technique. The perforations in the body are filled by the colorless glaze. Incised ruyi lappets surround the rim, and two incised horizontal lined and rising flame motifs surround the foot.

The fabricatiopn technique of this vessel is characteristic of the finest Qianlong period "rice-grain" pieces, and it can be tentatively dated to this period by comparison with marked Qianlong examples.

Chinese Qing Dynasty

Chinese, 1644-1911

Bottle Vase, Qianlong period, 1736/1795

porcelain with turquoise glaze

overall: 23x13.7cm(91/16x53/8 in.)

This vase has a globular body and a slightly flaring neck. The proportions are very close to larger examples that bear Qianlong reignmarks,suggesting that this vessel dates to the same period. The exterior is decorated with designs incised under the glaze. Six ascending leaves surround the neck, the bottom of which is encircled by a key-fret band. The swelling body has a floral scroll with three large petals. Above the foot-ring is a band of stylized petals.