Ceramic Web Page Tutorial

By JDZ-Ceramic

To make a quick survey of the text or images in this tutorial:

1. Scroll down through this page. Click on any thumbnail image and a larger image will appear in the left frame.
2. To scroll through all the larger (left frame) images, click on the icon below and use the scrolling bar to view them in sequence.

This first tutorial is an introduction, it sets the scene. Inevitably it touches on much more than the beginnings of our craft.

The story of Ceramics may begin as early as 30,000 years ago…
This period in history is called the Palaeolithic Age or Old Stone Age (500,000 BC. to 10,000 BC.) because Man’s cutting tools or sharp weapons were made from carefully chipped pieces of flint - stone. The discovery of copper, bronze and iron was far into the future.

The last Ice Age was coming to an end and the huge glaciers were retreating towards the Poles. Our ancestors were nomadic hunters and food gatherers, who for generations had been slowly moving out of Africa, north and east. As wandering tribes they slept in the open or in shallow caves or under rock overhangs.

They would eventually learn how to make fire, at first to warm and protect themselves against other animals and later to cook meat and also… bake clay.

Recent archaeological evidence now shows that in some parts of the world our stone age ancestors had discovered how to bake clay figurines in bonfires and even make simple kilns as long as 30,000 years ago.

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Sicilian Ceramic Art

By JDZ-Ceramic

The Sicilian ceramic master’s craft is deeply rooted in time. This timeless art has flourished for millennia, perfectly expressing the essence of Mediterranean culture. Shapes, colours and motifs born of a profound respect for the past with an eye to the future. Terra cotta harvested from the earth and caressed by the Sicilian sun.

A Piece of Sicily
Like any other unique work of art, a ceramic piece begins with an idea. That idea is the vision of an individual artist. Then there’s the material. The clay found in each region of the world is unique. Sicilian clay, used in terra cotta earthenware over the millennia, is different from the clay of Mexico or Mongolia because it contains a combination of silicates unique to Sicily. This clay, freshly mined from the Sicilian mountains and valleys, is molded by hand by ceramic masters, and then left to dry under the sun.
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Chinese Wall Design

By lotus

Why do tourists always go to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, or the Beihai Park when they visit Beijing? Why do many households, stores, and museums all over the world today contain various Chinese artifacts and treasures? Why do people treasure such designs of China?

Sure, such artifacts and designs are worth quite a fortune. How nice it would be to show your prestige to own something of such value! But an object’s worth is not the true reason why people hold it with prestige.

Chinese Wall Design

Why is the object worth so much in the first place? Why do you think people put such high respect for Chinese Design Art?

The Design Arts of China are rare and hard to find because each and every piece is unique and one-of-a-kind. You don’t see many places like the Forbidden City, do you? The architecture and garden designs of the Summer Palace are nowhere else to be found. Even that Chinese chair or lamp sitting in your house right now might be something that only you in the world will have.

Such designs come with rare beauty and style. Simple or complex and big or small, all the designs of China are glamorous and magnificent - and truly a treat and delight for the eyes.

Old and New Ceramic

By lotus

The Culture of China is quite unique and special. It contains wonderful and delightful arts and customs as well as very interesting ways of life. Yet there is one aspect of Chinese Culture that truly sets it apart from other cultures and countries: the connected split between Old and New.

Chinese Culture as a whole can clearly be divided into two: Traditional Culture and Modern Culture. Like all other cultures of the world, the Chinese Culture is changing continually. Throughout history it has evolved and changed, especially during the 20th century.

Social scientists believe that there are four chief factors that cause a culture to change: changes in the environment, contact with other cultures, invention, and the further development of the culture itself. The last three have proved to be the key factors in China’s cultural change from old to new, as China began opening its doors to foreign relations and making scientific, technological, social, and economic advances.

Before the mid-1900’s, traditional Chinese culture was prominent as people and families lived by traditional values and beliefs as well as old teachings and ways of life. However, after the political change in 1949, a new culture developed as modern Chinese culture was developed.

an Old Spring, and Still Living

The ways of life of the Chinese people took on a whole new character as the traditional styles and ways were put behind. Read more »

Talk on ceramics in Ming China set

By lotus

Stacey Pierson, head and curator of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art at the University of London, will lecture on “Vessels for Living and Dying: Ceramics in Ming China” at 4:45 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 13, in 130 Smith Hall.Pierson’s expertise includes the history and production of Chinese ceramics, the history and theory of collecting and the history of art history.

She earned a master’s degree from the School for Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and has completed her doctoral thesis, “Private Collecting, Teaching and Institutionalisation: The Percival David Foundation and the Field of Chinese Art in Britain, 1920-1964.”

The Percival David Foundation promotes the study and teaching of Chinese Art and culture. Its unique collection of Chinese ceramics and library of East Asian and Western books related to Chinese art were donated to the University of London in 1950 by collector and scholar, Sir Percival David. The foundation houses approximately 1,700 Chinese ceramic items dating from the 10th-18th centuries and reflecting Chinese court taste.

Pottery and Porcelain

By lotus

The origins of Chinese pottery and porcelain go back to distant antiquity. And from the masterful excellence of Chinese ceramics, we can deduce the painstaking labor that went into making them.

Tradition
Four objective factors influenced the beginnings and development of Chinese pottery and porcelain:clay, fuel, river systems, and markets. Heavy clay and large quantities of fuel are required for pottery and porcelain making. High shipping costs made pottery production economically impractical in areas without these basic prerequisites. So a locale with plentiful supplies of both clay and lumber as fuel had the best potential for setting up a ceramics kiln.

Porcelain Wine Jugs

Once a large kiln has been set up, it often continues to produce for hundreds of years. The arts of preparing clay, glazing, and firing are often passed down from generation to generation, so each area will tend to develop its own individual glazes, clays, and decorating techniques, resulting in unique styles and designs. From the particular features of a piece, one can usually pinpoint definitively when and where it was made. Beginning with the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), and into the Tang (618-907 A.D.), Sung (960-1279 A.D.), Yuan (1279-1368 A.D.), and Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) dynasties, large quantities of pottery and porcelain were exported from China to Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, the Southeast Asian peninsula, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, the eastern coast of Africa, continental Europe, Great Britain, and the United States. Pottery and porcelain pieces exported during these periods are an excellent source of research materials on the history of China’s communications, trade, and economic relations with other countries. Read more »

Big Eclipse Talavera Ceramic Pot

By JDZ-Ceramic

This pot has a traditional dark blue background and beautifully handpainted the Sun & Moon in the foreground representing a eclipse, far away are the stars. A unique addition to your garden landscape!

Talavera Ceramic pots have a drilled hole at the bottom; this enable them to be used as a planter. If you plan to use them for this purpose, we recommend to use a smaller plastic planter to put it inside; this will prevent rusting to happen and will give a longer life to the pot.

Mexican Talavera ceramic is the result of a mixture of cultures over the time. The Spaniards were influenced by Arabic pottery, they brought it to Mexico and the mixture of cultures gave as result these beautiful art in ceramic. This ceramic pot is just an example of the exquisite beauty the Mexican craftsmen put on each item they create. It is handcrafted and handpainted, which means that no pots are the same! There might be small differences in size, weight and even the paintings. If you want to delight somebody special with an unique handcrafted gift, this is what you are looking for!

From the Collection: Selected New Gifts

By JDZ-Ceramic

This special exhibition opens May 2, 2003 and was curated by the Museum’s Collections Manager Susan Kowalczyk. This selection will include work by various ceramic artists from the United States with additional work from China, Finland, Japan, Russia, and Wales. The majority of pieces were donated in 2002-2003 and none have been shown here prior to this exhibition.

Ceramic artist, David Shaner (1934-2002), was an avid collector of ceramics, and pottery surrounded him in his home; even part of the floor was made of clay. Thanks to his and the Shaner family’s generosity and desire to share the collection with others, thirty-nine pieces were added to the David and Ann Shaner Collection at the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in 2002. Selected New Gifts will draw from these new additions. Included will be work by Ken Ferguson, Wayne Higby, Karen Karnes, Howard Kottler, Ruth McKinley, Don Reitz, Daniel Rhodes, James Secrest, David Shaner, Vladimir Tsivin, Robert Turner; Native American Pueblo Pottery; Japanese Shigaraki ware; and a Chinese Song Dynasty piece.

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