Sui Dynasty art: a clay camel, ca. 600-650 AD What came before the Sui Dynasty? In the Three Kingdoms period, Chinese artists had learned a lot about Indian and West [...]
Jar from Ban'po, 4800 BC The earliest form of art we know from China was pottery - clay pitchers and bowls starting about 5000 BC. Most of the best early [...]
Jurchen history: A pottery vase from the Jin Dynasty, ca. 1200 AD (Musee Guimet, Paris) Where did the Jurchen come from? Unlike most of the people living in north Asia, [...]
Mongol herdsman Hunting wild animals The first people moved into Central Asia about 50,000 BC. They were probably following the big animals that they hunted for food and leather skins [...]
Brazier (Picture thanks to VROMA) Braziers and cooking A brazier (BRAYS-yer) is a kind of portable grill, usually made out of clay but sometimes out of bronze or iron, which [...]
History of pottery: Philistine pottery (compare Mycenaean Greek pottery) What is pottery? Pottery is dishes, plates, cups, cooking pots, and storage jars made out of clay. People make dishes and pots [...]
A chunk of kaolin clay Kaolin clay and porcelain Kaolin is a kind of clay with a lot of aluminum, silica, and oxygen in it. It is the kind of [...]
History of clay: Clay on a potter's wheel What is clay? Clay is very fine particles of dirt which float in a stream or river and then sink to the [...]
Djenne clay pot from medieval West Africa Long long ago people didn't know anything. They didn't know how to plant crops, or how to weave clothes, or how to make [...]
Early African pottery: Vase from Nubia (modern Sudan), ca. 3000 BC The idea of making pottery got started in China and Japan about 14,000 BC. People probably used clay pots [...]
