Korean pottery and porcelain

Korean ceramic history begins with the oldest earthenware from around 8000 BC.

History

Imaed Silla period (668–935) pottery was simple in colour, shape, and design. Celadon was subsequently the main production, with white porcelain or Baekja developing slowly in the 14th century, when the pace accelerated with new glazes, better clays, and variations of the white of different clays.

Simultaneously, the Buddhist traditions demanded celadon-glazed wares, and cheongja pieces of celadon porcelain with more organic shapes drawing on gourds, with animal and bird motifs that evolved very quickly. In some ways these were over-decorated wares, using exaggerated forms, stylized repeating designs and a wide variety of organic patterns. Cheongja wares used refined clays with a bit of iron powder added, then a glaze with a bit of added iron powder added once again, then fired. The glaze was durable with a slightly shinier and glossier finish, in an oily way, than whitewares.

Pottery

Pottery is the ceramic material which makes up potterywares, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery (plural "potteries"). Pottery also refers to the art or craft of a potter or the manufacture of pottery. A dictionary definition is simply objects of fired clays. The definition of pottery used by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products."

Pottery originated before the Neolithic period, with ceramic objects like the Gravettian culture Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine discovered in the Czech Republic date back to 29,000–25,000 BC, and pottery vessels that were discovered in Jiangxi, China, which date back to 18,000 BC. Early Neolithic pottery have been found in places such as Jomon Japan (10,500 BC), the Russian Far East (14,000 BC), Sub-Saharan Africa and South America.