JAPANESE CERAMICS:
They used this type of
ceramic to store food, water, for drinking, as well as for eating. Pottery has
been used for a long time for its durability. Thou, the ceramics are easily
broken the pieces can be highly resistant to disintegration. Paint jobs are
added to these ceramics before fully baking it to finish product.
YAYOI POTTERY
This pottery has a
simple and minimalist style. What lacks in its luster compensate for its functionality.
It is used for storage jars, cooking pots, and eating and drinking vessels such
as stemmed cups are basic examples of Yayoi earthenware. These pots are elegant in form, slender
appearance, and burnished reds. Though it
has similarity for Chinese pottery yet you can clearly distinguish that Yayoi
pottery due to its geometric shape, lacks paint job, some pieces are painted
with a red pigment only for ceremonial pieces and some high-footed cups/bowls
were for making offerings. These types of pottery is used in Japan as a culture
living for today. Despite the passing of each century, ceramics is friendly for
our environment today for it is an inorganic and non-metallic material which is
suitable for daily purposes. This certain
type of pottery is similar to what southern Korea produce leaving such idea
that the creators of this ceramic originated from Korea. Some of the pieces are
influenced by the Jomon ceramics
Yayoi
pottery is not difficult to assimilate due to its simple decors and created
through a pottery wheel. Everything that this period creates in primitive way
thou has an artistic outcome and can cost billions for collectors for pottery
because of the way how this was created. This might be common before yet this
type of ceramic is not only made by hand but because it is difficult to fine
such fine pottery with distinct feature.
I like
the way how Yayoi ceramics appear in its natural and original beauty without
too much paint or décor added to it. It may seem boring yet its simplicity
brings the peculiarity being observed. Its
beauty is scrutinized because one does not care too much of how it looks but on
its purpose to be ersatz. Without any doubt this ceramic is austere in ones
design and efficient on its ulterior motive.
JUDILLA, A.
SOURCES:
- J A P A N E S E C E R A M I C S: YAYOI WARE
(n.d.), Blogger Web site. Retrieve December 10, 2016,
from http://gablluvido.blogspot.com/2016/12/group-5.html
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GREEK CERAMICS:
Hydria
FACTS:
Hydria/Kalpis is a water-jar with three handles, two for carrying and one
for pouring. The application of the name to the shape is reasonably certain,
although such vessels were not only used for the carrying of water.
The water jar (hydria) was one of the most common
vessel shapes in classical Athens. Two horizontal handles on each side were for
lifting the vessel when full, and the vertical handle at the back was for
pouring or for carrying the hydria while empty. Used predominantly by women,
hydriai were often decorated with scenes featuring women. The elegantly painted
scene on this vessel of an Athenian woman in her normative role as manager of
her household can be interpreted in two ways. The baskets flanking her,
commonly used to hold wool, could refer to her duties of spinning and making
garments for her family. The image could also be prophetic: about to be
married, the woman looks into the mirror, suggesting a view into her future. It is primarily a pot for fetching water, derives
its name from the Greek word for water. Hydriai often appear on painted Greek
vases in scenes of women carrying water, one of the duties of women
in classical antiquity. Of all the Greek vase shapes, the hydria probably
received the most artistically significant treatment in terracotta and in
bronze.
OPINION:
As interior design students, we are always
encouraged by our mentors to expose ourselves to the various types of arts in
the world, to absorb as much knowledge as we can, and to be artistically
discerning. But art is usually subjective where beauty is in the eyes of the
beholder; and I, as a beholder, find the Greek's Hydria a rare beauty.
I personally prefer the Greek’s Hydria due to its
distinctively attractive design and form. This ceramic, in particular, has
captivated me for the reason that it exudes an elegant yet adorable stance.
Though the colors used were minimal, the way the Greeks made the jug a canvas
for such beautiful designs completed the ceramic visually. This ceramic art has
a clear purpose of containing water and that alone proves its importance in the
lives of the people before whilst being sturdy and beautiful.
YU, WINONA
SOURCES:
YU, WINONA
SOURCES:
- Greek Hydriai and their Artistic Decoration. (n.d.). Retrieved December
17, 2016, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gkhy/hd_gkhy.htm
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JAPANESE CERAMICS:
Japan has a
rich tradition of designing, forming and firing some truly unique and
artistically fulfilling ceramics. The earliest Japanese ceramics
date back to the prehistoric Jomon (“cord marked”) period which extended
roughly from 10,500 to 300 BC. The early Jomon pieces are usually large,
cone shaped cooking pots. They have pointed bodies and the outer surface
of the pots are usually stamped or rolled with rope or cord patterns. It is
said to be the world's oldest earthenware.
 |
| Rope-Patterned Jar |
Jomon pottery had multiple uses. Its primary use was for
storing food. The Jomon people, who dug pits to store things, including for
burying the dead. However, scholars have discovered that pots were also used
for storing corpses, such as that of infants.
 |
| Jomon Cup |
Japanese Ceramics, specifically Jomon Ware is my favorite among the ceramics
tackled. The Jomon period is the beginning of Japanese ceramics. I am truly
fascinated by its rope-patterned design because it is effortlessly simple yet
very beautiful to look at it. These wares are not only for decoration and it
had multiple uses especially storing food. It shows the simplicity yet
creativeness of the Japanese people. The Jomon ware is truly uniquely and
artistically fulfilling.
GONZAGA, JASMINE
SOURCES:
I am enthralled by
how the Jomon ceramics were made by hand,
without the use of a potter's wheel. It is by building up from the bottom with
coils of soft clay mixed with other materials such as fibers or crushed shells.
Then, both the outside and inside of the pottery were smoothed out by tools and
then fired in an outdoor bonfire. It is wonderful to think that every piece of
the Jomon ware is uniquely made by hand of different kinds of people during the
Jomon Period.
GONZAGA, JASMINE
SOURCES:
- Pre-historic Japanese Pottery. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2016, from http://emerald.tufts.edu/programs/mma/fah188/ospina/jomon/
- Jomon Period. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2016, from http://www.ancient.eu/Jomon_Period/
- Japanese Ceramics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2016, from http://www.asia-art.net/japan_ceramic.html
- J A P A N E S E C E R A M I C S: YAYOI WARE (n.d.), Blogger Web site. Retrieve December 10, 2016, from http://gablluvido.blogspot.com/2016/12/group-5.html
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CHINESE CERAMICS:
Chinese Porcelain
Chinese ceramic ware is an art form that has been developing since the
neolithic period. There are two primary categories of Chinese ceramics,
low-temperature-fired pottery or táo (陶,
about 950-1200℃) and
high-temperature-fired porcelain or cí (瓷,
about 1250-1400 ℃). The
history of Chinese ceramics began some eight thousand years ago with the
crafting of hand-molded earthenware vessels. Soon after, in the late neolithic
period, the potter’s wheel was invented facilitating the production of more
uniform vessels. The sophistication of these early Chinese potters is best
exemplified by the legion of terracotta warriors found in the tomb of the First
Qin Emperor (r. 221-210 BC).
Over the following centuries innumerable new ceramic
technologies and styles were developed. One of the most famous is the
three-colored ware of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), named after the most
common yellow, green and white glazes which were applied to the
earthenware body, although other colors, such as blue, brown, purple, etc.,
were also used. They were made not only in such traditional forms as bowls and
vases, but also in the more exotic guises of camels and Central Asian travelers,
testifying to the cultural influence of the Silk Road. Another type of ware to
gain the favor of the Tang court was the qingci (青瓷),
known in the West as celadon. These have a subtle bluish-green glaze and are
characterized by their simple and elegant shapes. They were so popular that
production continued at various kiln centers throughout China well into the
succeeding dynasties, and were shipped to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and as
far as Egypt.
During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the firing of porcelain
was widespread. Famous porcelain wares were named after the locations at which
they were produced. Various kilns (yao, 窯) in
different places came to establish their own independent styles of forms and
glazes. Porcelain of this period featured plain but elegant glazes as well as
simple and archaic forms. Many of the decorative patterns were inspired by
daily life and nature.
Chinese Porcelain
Blue and white (qinghua, 青花)
porcelain was first mass produced under the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). Baked at
a high temperature, porcelain is characterized by the purity of its kaolin clay
body. Potters of the subsequent Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) perfected these blue
and white wares so that they soon came to represent the virtuosity of the
Chinese potter. Jingdezhen (景德鎮), in Jiangxi Province,
became the center of a porcelain industry that not only produced vast
quantities of imperial wares, but also exported products as far afield as
Turkey. While styles of decorative motif and vessel shape changed with the
ascension to the throne of each new Ming emperor, the quality of Ming blue and
whites are indisputably superior to that of any other time period.
During the late Ming to early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
porcelain was enriched with the innovation of five-colored (五彩)
wares. Applying a variety of over-glaze pigments to decorative schemes of
flower, landscape and figurative scenes, these wares have gained great fame in
the West. In the eighteenth century, borrowing from techniques in the
decoration of metalware, enamel was painted on porcelain to create vivid
colors and stunning patterns, known as painted-enamel or yangcai (洋彩).
The quality of Chinese porcelain began to decline from the
end of the Qing Dynasty as political instability took its inevitable toll on
the arts. However, the production of porcelain is being revived as Chinese
culture gains greater recognition both at home and abroad. In addition to
modern interpretations, numerous kiln centers have been established to
reproduce the more traditional styles.
BALLESTEROS, CHRISMARIE
SOURCES:
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ENGLISH CERAMICS:
Jasper Ware
Jasper Ware is a
type of fine-grained, unglazed stoneware introduced by the English potter
Josiah Wedgwood in 1775 as the result of a long series of experiments aimed at
discovering the techniques of porcelain manufacture. Its name derives from the
fact that it resembles the natural stone jasper in its hardness. It is white in
its natural state and is stained with metallic oxide colouring agents. The most
common shade is pale blue, but dark blue, lilac, sage green, black, and yellow
were also used. The earliest jasper was stained throughout and was known as
"solid," whereas the later varieties were coloured only on the
surface and were known as “dip.”
Decorations in the
Neoclassical style and usually white, were made in separate moulds and applied
to the body of the piece. Objects made of jasper were varied and included
vases, plaques, tableware, cameos, furniture mounts, and portrait medallions.
The finest
examples of the medallions were modelled by the English sculptor John Flaxman
and by Wedgwood's principal modeler, William Hackwood. The familiar densely
uniform stone ware in solid colours ornamented in a contrasting hue was Josiah
Wedgwood's most important contribution to ceramic art.
Because of the
popularity of the combination of a solid blue base with white bas-relief
ornamentation, the beginning collector identifies that colour combination as
Jasper when in fact the pure jasper body is white.
Among the English
ceramics, my favourite pottery is the “Jasper Ware”. The simple yet elegant
look of this pottery was what captured my interest. At first glance, a person
can already tell that it was handcrafted well. I admire its smooth texture,
lovely matte finish and its gorgeous color of “Wedgewood blue”. The color
chosen for this pottery was a perfect choice. It is soft and not too vibrant.
It gives a strong nostalgic feeling of the neoclassical period. I also admire
the sharpness and translucency of this piece. I find the white relief
decoration laid on top of it unique because it tells and depicts different
kinds of stories and scenes. It is different in every pot which would make it
unique and interesting.
The different
variation of colors available doesn’t make the piece dull and boring. There is
a contrast of detail and simplicity in this pottery. The details being in the
relief decoration and the simplicity of a pure color as the background. What i
also love about this piece is the form. Its imagination is vast. It has wide
forms, elongated forms and does not have a fixed size. With all of the attributes
of this pot, it would really bring vibrancy and life to any interior.
ATIENZA, BETTINA
SOURCES:
- Birks, Steve. "Types and Examples of
Potteries." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2016.
http://www.thepotteries.org/types/jasper.htm
- Cuthbertson, A. (n.d.). History of Wedgwood
Jasper. Retrieved December 17, 2016, from http://collectingwedgwood.com/wedgwood-jasper
- Amar, Calape, Cantillas, Manalo, & Taboada. (n.d.). Ceramic and Pottery: English Ceramics . Retrieved December 17, 2016, from http://ferrousmetalgroup1.blogspot.com/2016/12/id-322-materials-of-decoration-2.html
