Book Description

This volume illustrates one hundred works from a significant and wide-ranging collection of Chinese ceramics, including works of the Chinese potters' art from the Neolithic through the Yuan dynasties (approximately 4000 BC through to the 14th century), with works from the major traditions and kilns. It showcases the extraordinary achievements of Chinese potters in both earthenware and stoneware, and in ceramics made for use in this world as well as the afterlife. One of the earliest works included is a product of the late phase of the Dawenkou culture (c. 2800-2400 BC), one of China's several, co-existing Neolithic cultures characterized by distinctive pottery. Examples of funerary art from the Han and Tang dynasties are included, and finally Song wares that embody a literati aesthetic.