antique Asian Inscribed Pottery Vase 21 1/2” height. and 22 lbs

Type

an antique vase

Chinese pottery has a rich history, with the earliest examples dating back to the Paleolithic period in China. The art form developed significantly over the millennia, with distinct styles and techniques emerging during various dynasties. From early earthenware to the development of porcelain and intricate glazing techniques, Chinese ceramics showcase a continuous evolution and influence on other ceramic traditions worldwide. Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese porcelain wares made for the imperial court and for export. The oldest known pottery in the world was made during the Paleolithic at Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province, China. Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times. Porcelain was a Chinese invention and is so identified with China that it is still called "china" in everyday English usage. Most later Chinese ceramics, even of the finest quality, were made on an industrial scale, thus few names of individual potters were recorded. Many of the most important kiln workshops were owned by or reserved for the emperor, and large quantities of Chinese export porcelain were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date, initially to East Asia and the Islamic world, and then from around the 16th century to Europe. Chinese ceramics have had an enormous influence on other ceramic traditions in these areas. Increasingly over their long history, Chinese ceramics can be classified between those made for the imperial court to use or distribute, those made for a discriminating Chinese market, and those for popular Chinese markets or for export. Some types of wares were also made only or mainly for special uses such as burial in tombs, or for use on altars. Pottery dating from 20,000 years ago was found at the Xianrendong Cave site in Jiangxi province,[9][10] making it among the earliest pottery yet found. Another reported find is from 17,000 to 18,000 years ago in the Yuchanyan Cave in southern China.[11] By the Middle and Late Neolithic (about 5000 to 1500 BCE) most of the larger archaeological cultures in China were farmers producing a variety of attractive and often large vessels, often boldly painted, or decorated by cutting or impressing. Decoration is abstract or of stylized animals – fish are a speciality at the river settlement of Banpo. The distinctive Majiayao pottery, with orange bodies and black paint, is characterised by fine paste textures, thin walls, and polished surfaces; the almost complete lack of defects in excavated pots suggests a high level of quality control during production.[12] The Majiayao and other phases of the Yangshao culture are well-represented in Western museums,[13] with Banshan pots as the most widely recognized type of Neolithic Chinese pottery in the West. Banshan urns are characterized by a short, narrow neck atop a wide-shouldered vessel tapering to an often very narrow base; there are usually two ring handles attached to the middle of the vessel, and the ornament is slip-painted in purplish black and plum-red pigments. The designs frequently comprise four large roundels, linked by strongly curved lines or loops.[14] Distinct from Central China ceramic tradition developed in the modern eastern coastal provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, with principal cultures like Dawenkou, Longshan, Majiabang, Songze, and Hemudu. The most significant technological aspect of ceramics in the region was the development of the fast wheel in the Dawenkou culture shortly after c. 3000 bce. East coast produced the most technologically advanced ceramics in Neolithic China and is best known for thin-walled, wheel-thrown, intricately shaped black pottery vessels that frequently had a burnished surface. The early Dawenkou vessels are made of red clay less carefully prepared than the fine Yangshao versions, but their forms are clearly articulated. They include the ceramic prototype of later bronze ding. Trilobed ewer known as gui (see illustration), which was also ancestor to a bronze vessel, date from the mid- to late Dawenkou period. The stems and high feet of the raised Dawenkou vessels are often decorated with pierced openwork, a feature also of some black pottery of Longshan culture (see illustration). Smooth surface of black pottery is occasionally incised but never painted, giving it a metallic appearance. The white- or yellow-bodied wares that appeared towards the very end of the Dawenkou phase were further developed in the Longshan period, and many white wares either anticipate the bronze forms of the Shang era or have features such as rivets that suggest imitation of metalworking techniques, probably of contemporary copper wares, of which no examples have yet been discovered. All this heralded the transition from a lithic to a m