Ceramics has always been popular in the West. In addition
to the many excellent works published in earlier years, there has been
a tremendous amount of literature in the last 20 years on Chinese pottery
and porcelain. Titles listed below are chiefly historical surveys, general
studies, studies on various periods, and catalogs of large collections.
It is impossible to list all the museum collection catalogs or catalogs
of exhibitions of one particular collection.
The Art of the Yixing Potter: the K.S. Lo Collection,
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. Hong Kong: The Urban Council,
1990.
In Chinese and English, the exhibition catalog describes
Yixing stoneware, its history, some Yixing collections, and the
collecting of such ware in the West.
Beurdeley, Michel & Guy Raindre. Qing Porcelain:
Famille Verte, Famille Rose, 1644-1912. New York: Rizzoli, 1986.
Translated from French La Porcelaine des Qing,
the work describes in detail the Qing porcelain of various types
and forms, such as monochrome, blue and white, polychrome, eggshell,
imperial wares, and export and mounted porcelain. It also has information
on techniques used, provincial factories in Fujian, Yixing and Guangdong.
Carswell, John. Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain
and its Impact on the Western World. Chicago: David and Alfred
Smart Gallery, 1985.
Catalog of an exhibition at the Smart Gallery, University
of Chicago, on this very popular type of Chinese porcelain.
Chinese Copper Red Wares (Percival David Foundation
of Chinese Art monograph series ; no. 3), edited by Rosemary E. Scott.
London: The Foundation, 1992.
Scholarly and scientific studies on Chinese copper
red ware, its evolution and development, the microstructure and
the glaze.
Curtis, Julia B. Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth
Century: Landscapes, Scholar=s
Motifs and Narratives, with an essay by Stephen Little. New York:
China Institute in America, 1995.
Catalog of an exhibition at China Institute Gallery,
New York, it describes porcelains made at Jingdezhen between 1630
and 1700, focusing on the motifs of landscapes, scholar=s
pursuits and the influence of Chinese landscape painting on the
decoration of ceramics.
Davison, Gerald. The Handbook of Marks on Chinese
Ceramics. London: Han-Shan Tang, 1994.
An update of the author=s
a Guide to Marks on Chinese Porcelain.
Garnsey, Wanda and Rewi Alley. China: Ancient Kilns
and Modern Ceramics: A Guide to the Potteries. Canberra: Australian
National University Press, 1983.
Organized geographically by provinces, the guide provides
information on pottery in these provinces, with informative descriptions
and illustrations.
Gray, Basil. Sung Porcelain and Stonework. London:
Faber and Faber, 1984.
Serves as a basic guide to Chinese porcelain and stoneware
of the 10th-13th centuries. Also included are kiln sites, technological
aspects, artistic, historic and social context.
He, Li. Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey
from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. New York: Rizzoli,
1996.
The work claims that no English-language study of
Chinese ceramic history has yet incorporated information recently
published in China concerning its ancient kiln sites or any of the
recent theories advanced by Chinese ceramic experts regarding regional
kilns. In describing the Asian Art Museum=s
collection the author also provides an overview of the history of
study of Chinese ceramics. It has a glossary and a list of museums
with major collections of Chinese ceramics of the world.
Ho, Chuimei. Minan Blue-and-white Wares: an Archaeological
Survey of Kiln Sites of the 16th-19th Centuries in Southern Fujian,
China. (BAR international series ; 428). Oxford, U. K.: B.A.R.,
1988.
A detailed report on the kiln finds of Minnan blue-and-white
wares, in southern Fujian, with descriptions of five districts of
sites and localities, technical skills used, organization of the
production, thoughts for further research.
_____, ed. New Light on Chinese Yue and Longquan
Wares. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong
Kong, 1994.
Contains essays on the latest research on Chinese
celadon and related celadon ware.
Howard, David S. The Choice of the Private Trader:
the Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain Illustrated from the
Hodroff Collection. London: Zwemmer, 1994.
Based on the Hodroff collection, the author, owner
of a company specializing in 18th-century Chinese export porcelain
and heraldry, provides information on the East India trade and its
porcelain, the special type of export ware.
In Pursuit of the Dragon: Traditions and Transitions
in Ming Ceramics. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1988.
Catalog of an exhibition of ceramics from the collection
of the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Japan, it traces the Adevelopment
of ceramic styles from the Yuan to the Ming dynasties and documents
the full flowering of Ming ceramics production.@
The motif of dragon is discussed and interpreted. The catalog includes
several other essays.
Iron in the Fire: the Chinese Potter=s
Exploration of Iron Oxide Glazes: An Exhibition Held at the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford. London: The Oriental Ceramic Society, 1988.
The 1988 exhibition and the catalog provide technical
information on the wide range of iron-based colors found on Ming
and Qing porcelains.
Jenyns, Soame. Ming Pottery and Porcelain. 2nd
ed. London: Faber, 1988.
This 2nd edition has a foreword by Margaret Medley,
an introduction by William Watson, and has added more color plates.
The bibliography is an updated version.
Kerr, Rose. Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing
Dynasty 1644-1911. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1986.
Drawing from examples of V & A collections, the
study is a useful introduction to Qing ceramics, focusing on objects
produced for domestic use. Has a very useful chapter on sources
in Chinese, French and English on the history of Jingdezhen. Also
discussed is Jingdezhen kiln technology.
Li, Chih-yen and Ch=eng
Wen. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain. Beijing: Foreign Languages
Press, 1984.
Translated from Chinese, the work provides an overview
of the history of Chinese pottery and porcelain and their place
in other cultures. It also provides a list of important ancient
kilns in China, arranged by name of kiln, location, dates, products
and bibliography.
Macintosh, Duncan. Chinese Blue & White Porcelain
2nd ed. Hong Kong: Book Marketing Ltd., 1986, reprinted with minor
amendments 1988. (The 3rd edition was published in 1994)
Provides a detailed survey of this particular type
of ware, one of the most popular Chinese porcelains, beginning with
the 14th to the 19th centuries, the exports to Southeast Asia, and
to the West. A brief description on the manufacture of blue and
white and a list of decorative motifs and marks are also provided.
Medley, Margaret. The Chinese Potter: a Practical
History of Chinese Ceramics. 2nd ed. Oxford, U. K.: Phaidon, 1980.
(1st ed. published in 1976)
The work provides a very useful overview of Chinese
ceramics, the technology, formation and development, varieties and
forms.
_____. T=ang
Pottery and Porcelain. London: Faber and Faber, 1981.
The work includes all kinds of Tang potteries, not
only the better known Tang horses in three-colored glaze, but also
lead-glazed and unglazed earthenwares, as well as high-fired wares
of the Tang dyansty (618-907).
Mino, Yutaka and Katherine R. Tsiang. Ice and Green
Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon. Indianapolis: Indianapolis
Museum of Art, 1987.
Catalog of a traveling exhibition with an excellent
overview with details of Chinese celadon, its history and technological
aspects. Appendix A is an article by Pamela Vandiver and David Kingery,
ceramics scientists, entitled ACeladon: The Technological Basis of
Their Visual Appearances,@
providing technical aspects of this ware.
Mowry, Robert D. Hare=s
Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feather: Chinese Brown- and Black-glazed
Ceramics, 400-1400. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums,
1996.
Catalog of a traveling exhibition, the first exhibition
to feature this type of ware which was first made in the Han (206
B.C.-220 A.D.), reached the golden age during the Song, Jin, and
Yuan periods (10th-13th centuries). The title of the book derives
from the names of markings on these wares. In the West, it is called
temmoku.
Mudge, Jean McClure. Chinese Export Porcelain in
North America. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1986.
Provides a historical survey of the history of collecting
Chinese porcelain in North America, from the late-16th to the early-20th
century. One chapter deals with the United States where the China
trade began in late-18th century.
New Perspectives on the Art of Ceramics in China,
edited by George Kuwayama. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, 1992.
It contains seven papers delivered at a symposium
on the ceramic art of China. They discuss recent finds of Chinese
Song and Yuan, Ming and Qing ceramics; ceramic decoration in the
Ming and Qing, recent researches into the technology of Chinese
ceramics.
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. Imperial
Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation. San
Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1989.
Catalog of a traveling exhibition in the United States,
with outstanding examples of the Ming and Qing imperial porcelain
in the collection.
Pi, K=o-kuan.
Chinese Folk Painting on Porcelain. Beijing: Foreign Languages
Press, 1991.
Translated from Chinese, the book discusses the art
of underglazed porcelain painting at private kilns, various styles,
decorations and artistic values.
Porcelains of Jingdezhen (Colloquies on Art &
Archaeology in Asia; no. 16), edited by Rosemary E. Scott. London:
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1993.
Contains 12 papers on the Jingdezhen kilns and their
products, the most recent archaeological finds, types of wares from
the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and export porcelain.
The Quest for Eternity: Chinese Ceramic Sculptures
from the People=s Republic of China. Los Angeles:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.
Catalog of an exhibition, organized jointly by Los
Angeles County Museum of Art and Chinese Overseas Archaeological
Exhibition Corporation, with four essays on Chinese beliefs in the
afterworld, the Qin and Han tombs and mortuary architecture, funerary
sculpture, and sculptural development of ceramic figures. Also listed
in ASculpture.@
Reflexos: Símbolos e Imagens do Cristianismo na Porcelana
Chinesa = Reflections: Symbols and Images of Christianity on Chinese
Porcelain. Lisboa: Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa, 1996.
Catalog of an interesting exhibition at Museu de São
Roque, Portugal, focusing on symbols and images of Christianity
depicted on Chinese porcelain.
Scott, Rosemary E. Percival David Foundation of Chinese
Art: A Guide to the Collection. London: The Foundation and the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1989.
A booklet introducing the Foundation, the founders
of the collection, the scope of the collection, and different wares
from the Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
_____. Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration: Four
Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain. London: Percival David Foundation
of Chinese Art, 1992.
Catalog of the anniversary exhibition at the Foundation,
June-Sept. 1992. The objects are both from the Foundation and the
collection of C.P. Lin. The catalog is chiefly color-illustrated
with the author=s introduction
on Jingdezhen porcelain.
Spirit of Han, editor Aileen Lau. Singapore:
The Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, 1991.
Catalog of one of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society=s exhibitions, due to the fact that
large quantities of Han ceramics had come onto the market in recent
years. The pieces shown were loaned from the members. The catalog
describes the functions of Han ceramics, practical or ritualistic,
which reflect life and beliefs in Han times.
Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society,
ISSN 0306-0926. London: The Society, 1923-
Begun with an unnumbered issue for 1921/22, it is
published annually. Many of the articles are studies on Chinese
ceramics, but also on other aspects of Chinese and Asian art.
Tregear, Mary. Song Ceramics. New York: Rizzoli,
1982.
Similar to Basil Gray=s
book.
Vainker, S.J. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: from
Prehistory to the Present. London: British Museum Press, 1991.
A general survey with concentration in chapter 7 on
Ming and Qing imperial porcelain. Examples are from seven selected
papers from a 1989 symposium in conjunction with the exhibitions
Imperial Taste and In Pursuit of the Dragon.
Valenstein, Suzanne. A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics.
2nd ed. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.
Partially rewritten and much enlarged edition, the
work includes an index, more illustrations and new information from
recent archaeological discoveries. It provides a description of
the Metropolitan Museum=s
collection, but also gives a history of Chinese ceramics.
Watson, William. T=ang
and Liao Ceramics. New York: Rizzoli, 1984.
One of his several works on ceramics from different
periods. This work deals with the Tang dynasty (618-907) and Liao
dynasty (947-1125).
_____. Pre-tang Ceramics of China: Chinese Pottery
from 4000 BC to 600 AD. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1991.
The work traces the history of ceramics from the earliest
appearance of pottery to the Tang dynasty. Information is organized
geographically by regions with descriptions of local characteristics,
the development of kilns and vessel shapes and models, using archaeological
reports and other studies by Chinese scholars.
Wood, Nigel. Chinese Glazes: Their Origins, Chemistry,
and Recreation. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1999.
The work traces the development of glazes from the
earliest times to the present day, focusing on production and techniques.
