Chapter 3: Asia

China Japan Korea

What are the primary

accomplishments of Asian ceramics?

IDEAS

• Kiln Design• Glaze technology• Aesthetics

What are the unique ideas the Chinese have about kiln design?

• Heat rises, build on hill.• Single chamber takes a lot of fuel, make

smaller chambers.• Pots need to be fired hotter to be stronger.• Invent “pot foot” so pots can be stacked

on top of each other.• Invent saggar so wood ash doesn’t mar

pottery and can be stacked on top of each other.

China has an abundance of stoneware and porcelain.

These types of clay have to be fired hotter to get stronger.

They experimented with every style of kiln.

They developed the anagama, also known as a serpent kiln. It has a single chamber and it “snakes” up the hill.

Subsequent kiln developments

• Ash made a mess of highly decorated pots so they started making saggars.

• Anagamas require a lot of wood to fire so they experimented with kiln design and came up with multi-chambered kilns that the Japanese call naborigama.

Anagama or naborigama?

Kiln features that we still have.

• Down draft vs updraft

• Flue – opening to chimney or opening at top

• Damper – Gate that controls opening of flue

• Saggars, shelves, furniture, posts,

• peep holes

• Reduction vs Oxidation firing tied to glazes

Glaze Technology

Ash glaze was the first real glaze. Ash is deposited on the pots because they are wood fired.

Lead glazes were common in the Han (green) and Tang Dynasty (3 color/sankai)

Feldspathic glazes were greatest contribution. These are glazes made by grinding rock and suspending in water.

China has made notable contributions through out its long history

• Song dynasty = Golden Age of Ceramics• Forms were simple and elegant, surface

decoration was minimal. Glazes were superb. – Ash– Tenmoku– Chun– Celadon– Crackle– Color – overglaze, yellow

• Porcelain clay at highest peak• Ming Dynasty – export ware, blue & white

& bright, diverse color, overglaze, enamels

Panshan China 2500BC

PorcelainJarKorean1800