Jizhou Ware
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jizhou ware or Chi-chou ware () is Chinese pottery from
Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...
province in southern China; the Jizhou kilns made a number of different types of wares over the five centuries of production. The best known wares are simple shapes in
stoneware Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...
, with a strong emphasis on subtle effects in the dark glazes, comparable to Jian ware, but often combined with other decorative effects. In the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
they achieved a high prestige, especially among Buddhist monks and in relation to tea-drinking. The wares often use leaves or paper cutouts to create resist patterns in the glaze, by leaving parts of the body untouched. In the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
Jizhou also produced Qingbai ware, as well as brown and white slip-painted wares that borrowed their technique from Cizhou ware, popular wares produced at many sites in north China, and may have been significant in influencing the start of
blue and white pottery "Blue and white pottery" () covers a wide range of white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration was commonly applied by hand, originally by brush painting, but nowadays by ste ...
in
Jingdezhen ware Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name o ...
, from relatively nearby. Production seems to have begun in the late
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
or under the Five Dynasties, and continued until the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
. Production seems to have ended suddenly in the 14th century, for reasons that are not yet clear. In a ranking of Chinese wares from 1388, in the ''Essential Criteria of Antiquities'', Jizhou ware is listed in ninth place, above
Longquan celadon Longquan celadon (Chinese: 龙泉青瓷) is a type of green-glazed Chinese ceramic, known in the West as celadon or greenware, produced from about 950 to 1550. The kilns were mostly in Lishui prefecture in southwestern Zhejiang Province in the ...
, which was falling from fashion by then.


Characteristics

Jizhou ware was known for a " tortoiseshell glaze" (玳瑁釉 dàimàoyòu), alone or in combination with other types of decoration. The leaf and paper cut-outs were left in place, and burnt away in the kiln during firing. Paper cut-outs featured "auspicious characters" or simple floral patterns, often spread around the sides of the bowl. The leaves were more often placed in the centre of the bowl, and often only the skeleton of the leaf is seen. The technique seems to have been to soak a real leaf in the glaze mixture, then place it on the vessel, where the leaf itself burnt away in firing. Another, rather rare, resist glaze effect is called "leopard-spot". "Deer-spot" decoration, with rows of light brown spots with a white centre, was painted into place. The bodies of the wares seem to have been made entirely from the local low-grade '' petunse'', giving a light buff colour to the body. The painted wares are under a transparent glaze, and the designs can be elaborate and finely-executed. Common motifs include geometric patterns including basket-weave, floral patterns, especially tight "fronded spirals", and also breaking-waves. All of these, together with handles in the form of fishes with scales and fins, are found on a Yuan dynasty vase in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, which borrows both its shape and decoration from metalware.


Kiln site

It was produced in several kilns at Yonghe Town,
Ji'an County Ji'an County () is a County (People's Republic of China), county of west-central Jiangxi province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Ji'an. Administrative divisions In the present, Ji'an County has 1 subdistrict ...
, Jiangxi, called the ''Jizhou Kiln''. The historic site has been classified by the government as a major national historical and cultural sites in Jiangxi. Excavations at the site revealed large numbers of discarded fragments of Qingbai, an early blueish-white
porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
, below the layers with brown and white painted wares. Jizhou was clearly one of the secondary sites where this was produced, with Jingdezhen the main centre.Vainker, 124


Notes


References

*Leidy, Denise Patry, ''How to Read Chinese Ceramics'', 2015, Metropolitan Museum of Art, , 9781588395719
google books
* "Longsdorf": ''Song Dynasty Ceramics: The Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection'', 2013, J.J. Lally & Co., New York
PDF
(nos. 29–37) *Vainker, S.J., ''Chinese Pottery and Porcelain'', 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705 *Valenstein, S. (1998).
A handbook of Chinese ceramics
' (fully available online), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.


External links

* * * {{Authority control Chinese pottery Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangxi History of Jiangxi Stoneware Tourist attractions in Ji'an