anhua | Chinese term which refers to decoration which is faintly incised on the body of the procelain ware before glazing. | Picture |
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 |
blanc de Chine | Ivory colour chinese porcelain first produced in Dehua kiln in Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty. | Picture |
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, gilded and with green-scrolled ground. Also called Rose Medallion. | |
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 |
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 |
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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. | |
fahua | Chinese porcelain produced in the Ming dynasty decorated with glazes of different colours separated by raised lines. | Picture |
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. |
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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. | |
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. | |
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 |
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 |
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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. |
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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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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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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. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. |
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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 |
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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 | |
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 |
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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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sgraffito | Decorative design drawn by incising through the slip to reveal differently colour body beneath. A popular method used by the Cizhou potter. |
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sherds | Fragments of porcelain found in
kilnsites.
To find out more about sherds of some famous kilns, please read: Famous kilns sherds |
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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 |
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slip | Liquid or diluted clay. | |
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. |
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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 |
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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 |
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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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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. | |
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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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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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 |
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