Yue ware orYüeh ware (Chinese:越(州)窯;pinyin:Yuè(zhōu) yáo;Wade–Giles:Yüeh(-chou) yao) is a type ofChinese ceramics, afelspathicsiliceousstoneware, which is characteristically decorated withceladonglazing.[1][2] Yue ware is also sometimes called(Yuezhou) green porcelain (Chinese:(越州)青瓷; pinyin:(Yuèzhōu) qīngcí) in modern literature, but the term is misleading as it is not reallyporcelain (on Western definitions) and its shades are not really green.[1] It has been "one of the most successful and influential of all south Chinese ceramics types".[2]
The wares covered by the term have been gradually reduced; initially used for a wide range of early celadons with a grey body, it was first made more specific to refer only to wares from north China, and then later only to those from theTang dynasty onwards, and sometimes to restrict it "to the finest quality wares of the ninth and tenth centuries".[3] At the same time it has been realized that very similar wares were made at a number of northern kilns, and today the termYue-type is often preferred.
As the first fine glazed Chinese wares with no toxicity problems from the glazing, Yue ware begins the classic tradition of Chinese ceramics used for serving food and drinking wine or tea. Typically thin-bodied and finely made, with subtle glaze effects and very elegant shapes, Yue ware set the taste for monochrome pieces, sometimes with restrained incised decoration, that lasted for several centuries after.
Closed shapes such as vases, ewers, and ritual objects could have sculptured parts.
Yue ware was fired indragon kilns. The Yueglazing was anash glaze, made with a recipe usingwood ash andclay, and possibly small amounts oflimestone.[2] Firing temperature is thought to have been about 1,000°C or slightly higher.[2] The color of the glaze ranges from grey to olive to brown. Yue ware is considered as the ancestor ofSongceladon ceramics.[1]
Yue ware originated in the Yue kilns of NorthernZhejiang, in the site ofJiyuan nearShaoxing, called in ancient times "Yuezhou" (越州).[1][4] Its name goes back to theYue Kingdom of theSpring and Autumn period (770-476 BCE).[2] Yue ware was first manufactured in the 2nd century CE, when it consisted of very precise imitations ofbronze vessels, many of which have been found in tombs of theNanjing region.[1] After this initial phase, Yue ware evolved progressively into true ceramic form, and became a medium of artistic expression.[1][2] Production in Jiyuan stopped in the 6th century, but expanded to various areas of Zhejiang, especially theShanglin Lake Yue Kilns nearNingbo.[1][2]
Yue ware was highly valued and was used as tribute for the imperial court of China in the 9th century.[2] Significantly, it was also used in China's most reveredFamen Temple inShaanxi Province.[2] Yue ware was exported to theMiddle East early on. In an early example ofChinese influences on Islamic pottery, shards of Yue ware have been excavated inSamarra,Iraq,.[4] From the 8th to the 11th centuries, it was also exported toEast Asia,South Asia, andEast Africa.[2][5]
A particularly refined form of Yue ware is theMi-se Yue ware (Chinese:秘色越器, orChinese:秘色青瓷, "Secret color Yue ware") found in theFamen Temple and dated to the 9th century. This ware was undecorated but characterized by a smooth and thin glaze of a light color, either yellowish green or bluish green.[2]
Korean celadons were thought to be influenced by Yue ware by the 11th century, and displayed a bluer glaze through the use of low-iron and low-titanialime glazes, closer to theeutectic ideal. However, the Koreans developed their own bluish-green celadon glazes by theKoryo dynasty, that was different from those of Yue wares.[6]
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| Earthenwares, stonewares and others | ||
| Porcelain | ||
| Decoration | ||
| Kilns, shapes | ||