Vietnamese ceramics refers to ceramic art and pottery as a form of Vietnamese art and industry. Vietnamese pottery and ceramics has a long history spanning back to thousands of years ago, including long before Chinese domination, as archeological evidence supports.
Much of Vietnamese pottery and ceramics after the Chinese-domination era was largely influenced by Chinese ceramics, but has developed over time to be distinctly Vietnamese. [1] Vietnamese potters combined indigenous and Chinese elements. They also experimented with both original and individual styles as well as incorporated features from other cultures, such as Cambodia, India and Champa. [2]
Vietnamese ceramics were an essential part of the trade between Vietnam and its neighbors during pre-modern times through all the periods.
The early Luo Yue ceramics has dominated aboriginal characteristics of Dongsonian culture.
During the Chinese domination periods, the local Dong Son culture started fading away [3] and Vietnamese ceramics were being influenced by Chinese ceramics.
After reclaiming independence from China in 938, the Vietnamese craftsman under sovereign royal rules began designing and manufacturing ceramic productions independently of China. Vietnamese Lý-Trần period's creamy-white celadon and white-brown gốm hoa nâu ceramics have local characteristics and are distinctly different from Chinese ceramics. Dragon "Nāga" decoration and motif became common during the Ly period, and appeared on steles, ceramics, along with Bodhi leaf, lotus, water, makara (मकर) and Buddha. [4] Cham script were inscribed on terracotta bricks used for constructing religious buildings. [5]
The Vietnamese had begun exporting their ceramic productions at least since late 13th century to 14th century. [6] According to archaeological findings in Vietnam and other countries from the 14th century, some Vietnamese ceramics and coins dated 1330 have been recovered from the sites in Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. [7]
During the 15th-century Chinese occupation of Vietnam, Vietnamese potters readily adopted cobalt underglaze, which had already gained popularity in export markets. Vietnamese blue-and-white wares sometimes featured two types of cobalt pigment: Middle Eastern cobalt yielded a vivid blue but was more expensive than the darker cobalt from Yunnan, China. [8]
During the 15th century, around 80% of Southeast Asian ceramic products imported to Trowulan, capital of Majapahit Empire were Vietnamese products, and 20% were Thai. [9] In the Philippines, Vietnamese ceramics comprise 1.5–5% of ceramics found on the archipelago, while accounting for 20-40% ofThai ceramics. [10] Vietnamese ceramics also made up a small quantity in the 15th-century West Asian market. [10]
While ceramic wares in the traditional style are still being produced and enjoy popularity, modern ceramics are increasingly produced for export. Ceramic production centers include Lái Thiêu in southern Vietnam. [11] [12]
One of the noteworthy examples of modern ceramic art is the Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural, which is affixed on the wall of the dyke system of Hanoi. With a length of about 4 km, the Ceramic Road is one of the major projects that were developed on the occasion of the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi.
The Cát Tiên archaeological site in south Vietnam is site located in Cát Tiên National Park. Accidentally discovered in 1985, this site ranges from Quảng Ngãi Commune to Đức Phổ Commune, with the main archaeological artefacts concentrating in Quảng Ngãi, Cát Tiên District, Lâm Đồng Province, southern Tây Nguyên. The unknown civilization which developed this site inhabited it between the 4th century and 9th centuries CE. A number of ceramic wares were found at this site.
Bát Tràng porcelain and pottery is a type of ceramics made in the village of Bát Tràng, now merged into suburban Hanoi. The earliest refer of Bát Tràng kilns was in 1352. [13] The village is located in an area rich in clay suitable for making fine ceramic. Bát Tràng ceramics were esteemed with products rivaling that of Chu Đậu, and later joined by pottery from Đồng Nai, Phu Lang, and Ninh Thuận. The history of pottery production in the village can be traced back as far as the 14th century CE, and in subsequent centuries having been a popular manufactured product extensively traded by local merchants as well as European trading ships throughout Southeast Asia and the Far East. Bát Tràng nowadays still continues producing bowls, dishes and vases not only for the local market but also for exporting to Japan, one of the important market of Vietnamese ceramics. The gas kiln is more and more popular than electric or tradition wooden kiln. Beside the traditional decoration technique by brush, it appears recently the decoration technique using screen printing on rice paper. The new technique is applied mainly for the producing religious products like incense burners. But all other processes of making vessels are still very much handmade which is very important. There is another beautiful thing of Bát Tràng that is the old family houses. It is left only two or three this kind of old house which still keep the spirit of old Bat Trang, where it is found the big size vases, or bowls with the decorations from the 14th century, the most popular period of Bat Trang Ceramics.
The first private museum of Bát Tràng Village is Bát Tràng Museum / Museum of Ceramic Art by Vũ Thắng
Chu Đậu ceramics, in the Nam Sách county east of Hanoi, was discovered in 1983, which led to a series of excavations being conducted there from 1986 to 1991. The village is estimated to have begun production in the 13th century, reaching a peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, and declining in the 17th century. [6] From 1436 to 1465, China's Ming dynasty abruptly ceased trade with the outside world, creating a commercial vacuum that allowed Vietnamese blue-and-white ceramics to monopolize the markets for about 150 years. Vietnamese wares of this era have been found all over Asia, from Japan, throughout Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines), to the Middle East (the Arabian port of Julfar, Persia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt), and Eastern Africa (Tanzania). [8]
This is the place which is mentioned in the famous vase signed by a woman named Bui and dated 1450 in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul. [14]
Chu Đậu ceramics exported in Japan were called (An'nan) Annam wares. Chu Đậu ceramics also made the majority in the Hội An shipwreck. [13]
The trade in Vietnamese ceramics was damaged due to the plummet in trade by Cham merchants after the 1471 Vietnamese invasion of Champa. [15] During the 16th century, Vietnam's export of ceramics was also damaged by its internal civil war, the Portuguese and Spanish entry into the region and the Portuguese conquest of Malacca which caused an upset in the trading system, while the carracks ships in the Malacca to Macao trade run by the Portuguese docked at Brunei due to good relations between the Portuguese and Brunei after the Chinese permitted Macao to be leased to the Portuguese. [16]
Due to the so-called Nanban trade in the 16th-17th century, fragments of Vietnamese ceramic were found in a northern part of Kyūshū island. Among them was a wooden plate with character showing the date 1330 on it. Whether the Japanese went to Vietnam or Vietnamese traders came to Japan or if it all went through China is not quite clear. Vietnamese history records showed that when Lord Nguyễn Hoàng founded Hội An port at the beginning of the 17th century, hundreds of Japanese residents were already there.
One of the more famous items is An'nan wares (安南焼), which were exported to Japan and used in Japanese tea ceremony although the high-footed bowls were originally used for food. The bowls had an everted rim, high foot, were underglazed with cobalt floral decorations, lappets above base, unglazed stacking rings in well and were brown washed on the base. The diameters can range from 9 to 15 centimetres. They were produced in the 16th and 17th century.
The Hội An wreck lies 22 miles off the coast of central Vietnam in the South China Sea. The ship was carrying a large cargo of Vietnamese ceramics from the mid- to late-15th century. The provenance of the pieces was known to be the kilns of the Red River Delta (such as Chu Đậu) because excavations in the region had been ongoing since their discovery in 1983. The only pieces remaining at the kiln sites were wasters (pieces that had fused, collapsed or exploded in the firing process). Intact examples of the wares produced were rare, since all were exported. When the wreck was found there was excitement among collectors and archaeologists, for it promised the first cargo consisting solely of Vietnamese wares.
In 1996 over 250,000 intact examples of Vietnamese ceramic were recovered. 10% of unique ware was kept by the government for national museums, while the rest was allowed to be auctioned off to pay for recovery costs.
Cham kilns, locate in Go Sanh, Binh Dinh Province, modern-day central Vietnam, near the old Cham capital Vijaya, were 20 identified Champa kilns which were used to produce particularly Cham-style brown-glazed stoneware jars. The kilns were rebuilt many times, suggest a fairly long span of use. [17] Go Sanh ceramics were found in Borneo, the Philippines and shipwrecks such as the Pandanan. [18]
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a potter is also called a pottery. The definition of pottery, used by the ASTM International, is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products". End applications include tableware, decorative ware, sanitary ware, and in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware. In art history and archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, pottery often means only vessels, and sculpted figurines of the same material are called terracottas.
Champa was a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd century CE until 1832. According to earliest historical references found in ancient sources, the first Cham polities were established around the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE, in the wake of Khu Liên's rebellion against the rule of China's Eastern Han dynasty, and lasted until when the final remaining principality of Champa was annexed by Emperor Minh Mạng of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty as part of the expansionist Nam tiến policy. The kingdom was known variously as Nagaracampa, Champa (ꨌꩌꨛꨩ) in modern Cham, and Châmpa (ចាម្ប៉ា) in the Khmer inscriptions, Chiêm Thành in Vietnamese and Zhànchéng in Chinese records, and al-Ṣanf in Middle Eastern Muslim records.
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as figurines, and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware.
Pottery and porcelain is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptionally long and successful history of ceramic production. Earthenwares were made as early as the Jōmon period, giving Japan one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Japan is further distinguished by the unusual esteem that ceramics hold within its artistic tradition, owing to the enduring popularity of the tea ceremony. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1603), kilns throughout Japan produced ceramics with unconventional designs. In the early Edo period, the production of porcelain commenced in the Hizen-Arita region of Kyushu, employing techniques imported from Korea. These porcelain works became known as Imari wares, named after the port of Imari from which they were exported to various markets, including Europe.
Celadon is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware", and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that was first used on greenware, but later used on other porcelains. Celadon originated in China, though the term is purely European, and notable kilns such as the Longquan kiln in Zhejiang province are renowned for their celadon glazes. Celadon production later spread to other parts of East Asia, such as Japan and Korea, as well as Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand. Eventually, European potteries produced some pieces, but it was never a major element there. Finer pieces are in porcelain, but both the color and the glaze can be produced in stoneware and earthenware. Most of the earlier Longquan celadon is on the border of stoneware and porcelain, meeting the Chinese but not the European definitions of porcelain.
Imari ware is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Arita ware Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century.
Korean ceramic history begins with the oldest earthenware from around 8000 BC. Throughout the history, the Korean peninsula has been home to lively, innovative, and sophisticated art making. Long periods of stability have allowed for the establishment of spiritual traditions, and artisan technologies specific to the region. Korean ceramics in Neolithic period have a unique geometric patterns of sunshine, or it is decorated with twists. In Southern part of Korea, Mumun pottery were popular. Mumun togi used specific minerals to make colors of red and black. Korean pottery developed a distinct style of its own, with its own shapes, such as the moon jar or Buncheong sagi which is a new form between earthenware and porcelain, white clay inlay celadon of Goryeo, and later styles like minimalism that represents Korean Joseon philosophers' idea. Many talented Korean potters were captured and brought to Japan during the invasions of Korea, where they heavily contributed to advancing Japanese pottery. Arita ware, founded by Yi Sam-pyeong opened a new era of porcelain in Japan. Another Japanese representative porcelain, Satsuma ware was also founded by Dang-gil Shim and Pyeong-ui Park. 14th generation of Su-kwan Shim have been using the same name to his grandfather and father to honor they are originally Korean, 14th Su-kwan Shim is honorable citizen of Namwon, Korea.
Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards. The quality of its decoration was highly prized in the West and widely imitated by major European porcelain manufacturers during the Rococo period.
"Blue and white pottery" covers a wide range of white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration was commonly applied by hand, originally by brush painting, but nowadays by stencilling or by transfer-printing, though other methods of application have also been used. The cobalt pigment is one of the very few that can withstand the highest firing temperatures that are required, in particular for porcelain, which partly accounts for its long-lasting popularity. Historically, many other colours required overglaze decoration and then a second firing at a lower temperature to fix that.
Islamic pottery occupied a geographical position between Chinese ceramics, and the pottery of the Byzantine Empire and Europe. For most of the period, it made great aesthetic achievements and influence as well, influencing Byzantium and Europe. The use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, with the result that pottery and glass were used for tableware by Muslim elites, as pottery also was in China but was much rarer in Europe and Byzantium. In the same way, Islamic restrictions greatly discouraged figurative wall painting, encouraging the architectural use of schemes of decorative and often geometrically patterned titles, which are the most distinctive and original speciality of Islamic ceramics.
Swatow ware or Zhangzhou ware is a loose grouping of mainly late Ming dynasty Chinese export porcelain wares initially intended for the Southeast Asian market. The traditional name in the West arose because Swatow, or present-day Shantou, was the South Chinese port in Guangdong province from which the wares were thought to have been shipped. The many kilns were probably located all over the coastal region, but mostly near Zhangzhou, Pinghe County, Fujian, where several were excavated in the mid-1990s, which has clarified matters considerably.
Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese porcelain wares made for the imperial court and for export.
Po Binasuor, Ngo-ta Ngo-che, Cei Bunga, Chế Bồng Nga ruled Champa from 1360–1390 CE. He was also known as The Red King in Vietnamese stories. He is different from Po Binnasuar, the king of Panduranga from 1316-1361.
The Hội An wreck lies in the South China Sea 22 nautical miles off the coast of central Vietnam at approximately 16.04°N 108.6°E approximately. It was discovered by fishermen in the early 1990s. The Vietnamese government made several attempts to organise an investigation of the site but its efforts initially were confounded by the water depth of 230 feet (70 m). Between 1996 and 1999, the team, which included the Vietnamese National Salvage Corporation and Oxford University’s Marine Archaeology Research Division, recovered nearly 300,000 artifacts.
Bát Tràng porcelain and pottery is a type of ceramic made in the village of Bát Tràng, on the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam. The village is located in an area rich in clay suitable for making ceramic. Bát Tràng ceramics are considered some of the best known porcelain products in Vietnam besides those of Chu Đậu, Biên Hòa, Phù Lãng, Hương Canh, Lái Thiêu and Bầu Trúc. The history of ceramic making in this village can be traced back as far as the 14th century AD during the Ly-Tran dynasty period.
Jingdezhen porcelain is Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name of Emperor Zhenzong, in whose reign it became a major kiln site, around 1004. By the 14th century it had become the largest centre of production of Chinese porcelain, which it has remained, increasing its dominance in subsequent centuries. From the Ming period onwards, official kilns in Jingdezhen were controlled by the emperor, making imperial porcelain in large quantity for the court and the emperor to give as gifts.
Chinese influences on Islamic pottery cover a period starting from at least the 8th century CE to the 19th century. The influence of Chinese ceramics on Islamic pottery has to be viewed in the broader context of the considerable importance of Chinese culture on Islamic arts in general.
Thai ceramics are ceramic art and pottery designed or produced as a form of Thai art. The tradition of Thai ceramics dates back to the third millennium BCE. Much of Thai pottery and ceramics in the later centuries was influenced by Chinese ceramics, but has always remained distinct by mixing indigenous styles with preferences for unique shapes, colors and decorative motifs. Thai pottery and ceramics were an essential part of the trade between Thailand and its neighbors during feudalistic times, throughout many dynasties.
Lâm Ấp was a kingdom located in central Vietnam that existed from around 192 AD to 629 AD in what is today central Vietnam, and was one of the earliest recorded Champa kingdoms. The name Linyi however had been employed by official Chinese histories from 192 to even 758 AD to describe a particular early Champa kingdom located north of the Hải Vân Pass. The ruins of its capital, the ancient city of Kandapurpura is now located in Long Tho Hill, 3 kilometers to the west of the city of Huế.
The Southeast Asian Ceramic Society (SEACS) was founded in 1969 in Singapore. It is a member of the London-based Oriental Ceramic Society.
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