Ceramic -- China - Term Paper Example

Ceramics range from construction materials (bricks & tiles), porcelain and vessels (Uta Grosenick & Caspar Schubbe, 2007 p.25). The earliest Chinese ceramics were produced during the Neolithic period (6000-1000BC), this was kind of utilitarian wares known has basic pottery. The cultures that were involved with this type of ceramics were Ta-ti-wan, Lun Shan and Ta-wen-Kau. They produced a number of ceramic arts such as, fanciful thin walled and burnished earthenware that were fully painted from soil ores.

Majority of these ceramics were used by the respective cultures as ritual vessels during traditional ceremonies and events. They were hand built, characterized by grey, black and red colors, as such they were real evidence of craftsmanship and beauty during the ancient period. The emergence of Bronze period led to ceramic decline, and few were made resembling the ceramic shapes of metals that had appeared (Wang Guanyu, 2011 p.3). Chinese ceramics that was produced during the Han dynasty between 206 BC –AD 220, was well known as organized ceramic production.

Example of these ceramics included mass produced functional vessels that were stamped with names of government offices, a sheer indication that ceramic workshops and works were controlled. Majority of the vessels produced were identical but one notable ceramic work was the lead glazing, this included a low fired glaze that was colored with copper to produce green, or use of iron to create yellow or brown colored items. The Chinese knew that lead was toxic to human beings and with this knowledge; they would only utilize ceramic works created from lead glazing for mortuary purposes rather than daily use (p7).

The toxicity of lead glazing lead to some of the Southern China, and coastal regions to produce high fired stone ware that was incorporating wood or ash glaze, that produced a yellow colored type of work. The other part was the use of an expanded Han repertoire which