Chinese Pottery & Porcelain  

China enjoys the longest and most developed history of ceramics in the entire world. From as early as 5,000 B.C - the Neolithic period, the Chinese have been shaping and heating clay. In the span of over 3,000 years, many styles of Chinese pottery and porcelain have been created, either for imperial or domestic use, or for export to the Middle East and the West. The ceramics can be classified into two groups: low-fired earthenware and high-fired stoneware and porcelain. They were named simply for their colour and appearance, or for the kiln area in which they were made. Examples include green, white, black and brown ware, monochrome and polychrome-glazed ware, as well as ceramics from the Yue, Xing, Ding, Guan, Jun, Ru, Swatow, Cizhou, Dehua and Jingdezhen kilns.

This PathFinder serves as a guide to help you locate resources on Chinese pottery and porcelain, which are available at the National Library Board libraries as well as on the Internet.

Compiled by Alicia Yeo. For further assistance, please ask the staff at the Information Counter or email us at ref@nlb.gov.sg

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