Keeping it real for 5,000 years. It’s a long story, but one of the best. It’s a story of two timelines, twisting and turning, limiting and supporting.
Start with the Technology Timeline. It’s what you can see in photos and feel in your hands (and test in labs).
Here’s a snapshot of the technology timeline. Look only at the surfaces and glazes.
In 5,000 years the bodies went from earthenware to stoneware to porcelain and the surfaces went from incised and cold painted to burnished then lead glazed, iron glazed (white, green, brown and black) then underglaze blue to many colored enamels.
In the broadest possible terms , that’s the Technology Timeline of this 5,000 year story. To understand Chinese ceramics, keep this technology timeline in mind and look at another: the Dynastic Timeline.Chinese ceramics are often organized this way. But for b From these two timelines, you’ll be able to see the whole story, and place many or most pieces you come across in it.
