Henan Ceramics wares (河南陶瓷)
Northern Dynasty/Sui Period
Lead glaze wares
Henan is one of the regions in China famous for its Neolithic pottery. In 1921, neolithic painted pottery was discovered in Yangshao (仰韶) village in Mianchi (渑池) county. Many sites producing the Longshan culture black pottery wares were also discovered in Henan. Subsequent lead glazed green pottery which was believed to have originated in Guanzhong (关中)in Shanxi (陕西) were also widely produced in Henan. Lead-glazed pottery saw further development in Henan during the Northern Wei period. Some interesting examples were excavated in the Luoyang (洛阳) city Northern Wei period site. For example, the below fragment of a bowl showed some area decorated with white slips and then the vesssel covered with a light green lead glazed. This type of bowl was imitation of glaze wares imported from the Middle East region.
More elaborately decorated vessels were found in tombs of the the Northern Dynasty Beiqi (北齐) period． For example, the below yellow glazed flat hu vase from the tomb of Fancui (范粹) and the light yellowish glaze jar with yellow splashes from the tomb of (李云). The yellow hu vase has impressed motif of Midde Eastern looking musicians and dancer. The jar with the lotus petals showed strong buddhist influence. The yellow glaze jar with green splashes was the precursor of the Tang Sancai wares.
 |
 |
Celadon and White Wares
Despite its long history of pottery productions, Henan and other famous Neolithic pottery production regions in Northern China is not known to have produced Proto-porcelains. Although many proto porcelains of the Shang/Zhou period were discovered in Henan, the chemical analysis pointed to a Southern China origin of production. In fact, very few proto-porcelains/porcelains were found in tombs of the nobles in Henan from the warring states to the Jin period. It showed that they were rare and treasured objects.
Archaeological excavations showed that celadon wares were first produced in the Northern Dynasty period in regions such as Shangdong, Hebei and Henan. The glaze of the celadon from Northern China is visually different from those made in Southern China. They are more glassy, transparent with grayish green or yellowish brown colour.
Celadon and white wares were excavated from the ancient Luoyang city stratum of the late Northern Wei period. Some of the celadon and white wares were attributed to the Gongyi (巩义) Baihe (白河) kiln. Some kiln rejects showed white bowls/cups placed at the top of celadon bowls/cups. They were separated by three-prong spurs. The paste of the white wares were more fined grained and more whitish in colour. They were also more thinly potted. The white glaze still showed tinges of green especially in area where the glaze pooled. There are some ceramics experts who felt that more archaeological evidences must be gathered to establish firmly that white wares were produced during the Late Northern Wei/Eastern Wei period. Their reservation was based on the fact that no white wares from Northern Wei/Eastern Wei have been found in tombs/graves. Furthermore, the shape of the bowls/cups were similar those found in Sui Tombs/graves. It must however be noted that the shape of the bowls/cups has not changed much since the Northern Wei to Sui period.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Baihe celadon cup | Baihe white cup |
Another site that produced Northern Dynasty to Sui period celadon in Henan was Anyang Xiangzhou kiln. In the below photo, picture of the 3 prong spurs is shown on the lower left. The wares of these Northern Dynasty/Sui period were fired without the use of saggars to protect the vessels.
 |
Attributed to Bei wei Baihe kiln |
Continue to Page 2
Written by : NK Koh (２６ May 2010)
References:
１． 中国陶瓷史 - 中国上海硅酸盐学会编
２． 中国古陶瓷研究 (第十五集) - 中国古陶瓷学会编