A Chinese porcelain-ware displaying battles between dragons， Kangxi era (1662-1722)， Qing D Fonthill vase is the earliest Chinese porcelain object to have reached E It was a Chinese gift for Louis the Great of Hungary in Porcelain is generally believed to have originated in C Although proto-porcelain wares exist dating from the Shang Dynasty about 1600 BCE， by the Eastern Han Dynasty (100-200 BCE) high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain， and porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty period (618–906) was exported to the Islamic world， where it was highly [4] Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain， or sancai Historian SAM Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after the Tang，[5] during the Song， Yuan， Ming， and Qing DBy the Sui (about 580 AD) and Tang (about 620 AD) dynasties， porcelain had become widely Eventually， porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century， it was being exported to EKorean and Japanese porcelain also have long histories and distinct artistic
Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln to induce reactions that lead to permanent changes， including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their There are wide regional variations in the properties of clays used by potters and this often helps to produce wares that are unique in character to a It is common for clays and other minerals to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific Prior to some shaping processes， air trapped within the clay body needs to be This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by Wedging can also help to ensure an even moisture content throughout the Once a clay body has been de-aired or wedged， it is shaped by a variety of After shaping it is dried before There are a number of stages in the drying Leather-hard refers to the stage when the clay object is approximately 75-85% Clay bodies at this stage are very firm and only slightly Trimming and handle attachment often occurs at the leather-hard Clay bodies are said to be "bone-dry" when they reach a moisture content at or near 0% Unfired objects are often termed Clay bodies at this stage are very fragile and hence can be easily It is believed that the earliest pottery wares were hand built and fired in Firing times were short but the peak-temperatures achieved in the fire could be high， perhaps in the region of 900 degrees Celsius， and were reached very Clays tempered with sand， grit， crushed shell or crushed pottery were often used to make bonfire-fired ceramics， because they provided an open body texture that allows water and other volatile components of the clay to escape The coarser particles in the clay also acted to restrain shrinkage within the bodies of the wares during cooling， which was carried out slowly to reduce the risk of thermal stress and In the main， early bonfire-fired wares were made with rounded bottoms， to avoid sharp angles that might be susceptible to The earliest intentionally constructed kilns were pit-kilns or trench-kilns; holes dug in the ground and covered with Holes in the ground provided insulation and resulted in better control over The earliest known ceramic objects are Gravettian figurines such as those discovered at Dolni Vestonice in the modern-day Czech R The Venus of Dolní Věstonice (Věstonická Venuše in Czech) is a Venus figurine， a statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29，000–25，000 BCE (Gravettian industry) The earliest pottery vessel found to date was excavated from the Yuchanyan Cave in southern China and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 reports that the ware dates back to 18，000 years Pottery vessels made by the Incipient Jōmon people of Japan from around 10，500 BCE have also been The term "Jōmon" means "cord-marked" in J This refers to the markings made on clay vessels and figures using sticks with cords wrapped around Pottery which dates back to 10，000 BCE have also been excavated in C It appears that pottery was independently developed in North Africa during the tenth millennium and in South America during the seventh millennium The earliest history of pottery production can be divided into 4 periods namely; the Hassuna period (5000 - 4，500 BCE)， the Halaf period (4，500 - 4000 BCE)， the Ubaid period (4000 - 3000 BCE)， and the Uruk period (3，500 - 2000 BCE) The invention of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia sometime between 6，000 and 4，000 BCE (Ubaid period) revolutionized pottery Specialized potters were then able to meet the expanding needs of the world's first Pottery was in use in ancient India during the Mehrgarh Period II (5500 - 4800 BCE) and Merhgarh Period III (4800 - 3500 BCE)， known as the ceramic Neolithic and Pottery， including items known as the ed-Dur vessels， originated in regions of the Indus valley and has been found in a number of sites in the Indus valley In the Mediterranean， during the Greek Dark Ages (1100–800 BCE)， artists used geometric designs such as squares， circles and lines to decorate amphoras and other The period between 1500-300 BCE in ancient Korea is known as the Mumun Pottery PThe quality of pottery has varied historically， in part dependent upon the repute in which the potter's craft was held by the community[citation needed] For example， in the Chalcolithic period in Mesopotamia， Halafian pottery achieved a level of technical competence and sophistication， not seen until the later developments of Greek pottery with Corinthian and Attic ware[citation needed] The distinctive Red Samian ware of the Early Roman Empire was copied by regional potters throughout the E The Dark Age period saw a collapse in the quality of European pottery which did not recover in status and quality until the European Renaissance[citation 这是平行文本相关翻译：陶器，是用黏土或陶土经捏制成形后烧制而成的器具，陶器的英文"pottery"可以同时指土器（earthenware）、陶器、石陶器（stoneware）及瓷器的集合。陶器历史悠久，在新石器时代就已初见简单粗糙的陶器。陶器在古代作为一种生活用品，在现在一般作为工艺品收藏。一般认为最早的陶器是手制的，并在篝火（bonfires）烧制。烧制时间短但火达到的最高温度可以很高，约在900℃左右，而且达到的速度很快。黏土与沙、砂砾、打碎的贝壳或打碎的陶器调合后会被用来制造篝火烧制陶瓷器，这是因为它们提供了一个开放的坯体质地令水及其他挥发性成分可以轻易离开。黏土中较粗糙的粒子亦会发挥在冷却时限制陶器坯体内部收缩的作用，此过程以缓慢速度进行，并减低热应力及破裂的危机。早期以篝火烧制的陶器主要是圆底的，用意是避免尖锐的角令破裂容易发生。最早有目的而建设的窑是穴窑（pit kiln）或沟窑（trench kiln），即在地面掘一个洞再在上面铺满燃料。在地面的洞提供了隔离层，令烧制过程可以有更佳的控制。中国最早的陶器出现于新石器时代早期。大约在距今15000年左右，首先在中国南方可能已经开始制陶的试验，到距今9000年左右大致完成了陶器的发明和探索。1962年于江西万年县仙人洞遗址发现的圆底罐，其年代据放射性碳素测试为公元前6875±240年，为夹砂红陶，外表有绳纹。裴李岗文化（公元前5500～前4900年）中的陶器则多为泥质或夹砂红陶，亦有少量灰陶。在接下来的磁山文化（公元前5400年～前5100年）、大地湾文化（公元前5200年～前4800年）、仰韶文化、马家窑文化、大汶口文化、龙山文化可以看出古代中国人的制陶工艺不断发展，品质提高，种类增多。在中国，彩陶出现在公元前4000年左右。"半坡彩陶"为仰韶文化的一部分，在1953年首先于陕西西安市半坡村被发现，主要包含水壶及碗等。一开始它们上面纯粹为红色，但陶器上渐渐有独特的符号，称为半坡陶符，纹饰有动物纹、几何纹、编织纹等。此后在临近各省也发现了类似的陶器。在公元前2500年至2000年的龙山文化中，出现了黑陶，这是中国制陶工艺的一次高峰。 在商朝，有理论认为是当时印欧语系的游牧民族带来陶轮的技术，令陶器量产化。在周朝，以陶轮制作的陶器会以更高温烧制，令其硬度增加，同时亦会使用绿色的釉料。秦朝的陶俑兵马俑成为当时最具代表性的陶器，而在此时陶器的描绘主题由动物转变为人。在汉朝，陶器的描绘主题由为佛教的传播而出现了佛的形象。到了唐朝，中国出现了白色的陶瓷，而同时亦出现了其他陶像，唐三彩成为当时艺术精华的代表。到了宋朝，因为瓷器技术开始成熟令中国的陶器的辉煌被瓷器完全盖过。此后中国的陶瓷器重点便落在瓷器上。然而明清的紫砂壶等陶器乃至近代的江苏宜兴、广东石湾的陶器工艺仍然有非常高的水准。
