Category: Jingdezhen

Early Glazy Prototype

Look familiar?  No, it’s not Glazy, it’s Jingdezhen 😜  Just a few samples from the glaze shops in Jingdezhen.  You can get spoiled being a ceramicist here, where amazing glazes from every dynasty in every color are available by the bucket!  Someday maybe Glazy will become a virtual Jingdezhen glaze shop!

Chinese Vintage Cigarette Labels

Celebrating ancient Chinese ceramics in vintage cigarette labels: 1. “Painted Pottery” honoring neolithic pottery from the Yangshao culture. 2. Named for Jingdezhen, “Ceramic Capital”, and produced in Jiangxi. 3. “Porcelain vase” cigarettes from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. 4. “Ancient Ceramics” with four representative types of Chinese porcelain. 5. “Ancient Pottery” from Guizhou Province. 6. “Sancai”… Continue reading Chinese Vintage Cigarette Labels

Qing Porcelain Stone Tests

These are melt tests of different types of porcelain stone from sometime at or before the Qing dynasty. Iron or blue qinghua underglaze was used to write place names and other notes on each test. Porcelain stone is an amazing material that primarily comes from a number of mines near Jingdezhen. Combining porcelain stone with… Continue reading Qing Porcelain Stone Tests

72 Hands

http://72hands.org/ From theTiangong Kaiwu (天工開物) encyclopedia compiled by Song Yingxing (宋应星) at the end of the Ming Dynasty comes the oft-cited quote: “共计一杯工力，过手七十二，方可成器” “For the total work required to make a single cup, it must pass through 72 hands, and only then can it become a vessel.” 72 Hands is an effort to document all types of ceramics techniques.… Continue reading 72 Hands

Yaoli Village and Raonan Outdoor Ceramics Museum

A water wheel powers large hammer mills used for crushing porcelain stone

Yaoli Ancient Village (瑶里古镇) is a fairly well-known tourist destination located about 1 1/2 hours by car from Jingdezhen. During the past few years I have visited the village a handful of times, and each time I’m even more disappointed by the continuous development, poor management, and flocks of tourists. But the countryside around Yaoli is… Continue reading Yaoli Village and Raonan Outdoor Ceramics Museum

One ton

One ton of porcelain stone delivered to my studio. It's only recently that I've become confident enough to make such a large investment.

Sanbao Porcelain Stone and Saggar Kiln

Nestled in the beautiful mountains near Jingdezhen is Sanbao, a traditional source of porcelain stone. Porcelain stone comes in many types characterized by the local geography. Sanbao stone is primarily used in making porcelain bodies, but it can also be used in glazes.

Porcelain Stone

Tests of local porcelain stone, glaze stone and glaze ash at a local materials shop in Jingdezhen.

Gaoling Mountain

The village at Kaolin mountain.

The traditional source of Kaolin clay used in Chinese porcelain is Gaoling mountain.  There’s actually not much to see at the park there- all the kaolin clay was mined out a very long time ago.  But the mountain itself is beautiful, and the nearby villages still offer a glimpse into “old China”.

纪录片《china-瓷》

It’s said that you can tell how long a foreigner has been in China by the number of appearances they have on Chinese television.  I’m not doing well, I guess, because I’ve only been in one documentary.“China · porcelain” is a documentary about the fascinating history of Chinese export porcelain in the Ming and Qing… Continue reading 纪录片《china-瓷》