Qingbai ware

, 13th–14th century Qingbai initially appeared in the Northern Song period, from about 960 to 1127, and became a sought-after item in the Chinese market. It became even more popular during the Southern Song period, which lasted approximately from 1127 to 1279. It was also exported in quantity to China's neighboring nations. Kilns used to make Qingbai ware have been unearthed in many of China's provinces, suggesting great popularity and widespread efforts to duplicate Qingbai throughout the realm. Excavations at the kiln site for Jizhou ware revealed large numbers of discarded fragments of Qingbai, below the layers with brown and white painted wares. Jizhou was clearly one of the secondary sites where this was produced. A significant individual piece of Qingbai ware is the Fonthill Vase, which reached Europe in 1338, soon after it was made, and is the earliest Chinese ceramic surviving in Europe since medieval times. It was apparently a gift to Louis the Great of Hungary, who seems to have received it from a Chinese embassy on its way to visiting Pope Benedict XII in 1338. The vase was then mounted with a silver handle and base, transforming it into a ewer and transferred as a gift to his Angevin kinsman Charles III of Naples in 1381. Qingbai was later also produced in Japan, where it is known as seihakuji. A record auction price was paid for a statue of a seated Guanyin, which raised HKD 25,300,000 (US$3,267,338) at Christie's in Hong Kong in 2011. ==Characteristics==

Qingbai ware is not considered to be part of the wu wei ce, Five Great Kilns, or five classic wares of the Song dynasty. These include Ding ware, an off-white porcelain; Qingbai ware is Ding ware that has achieved true translucency, and has a pure white porcelain body with a bluish-green glaze. Makers of Qingbai ware achieved this translucency by using a fine-grained porcelain stone that naturally contained kaolin, and that supported thin-walled vessels. Kaolin, one of the most common clay minerals, gives the porcelain the true white color and allows for minimal shrinking of the vessel, but seems not to have been added, at least at Jingdezhen in the earlier wares. Qingbai ware reached its peak from the 10th through 13th centuries, centered in the southeastern province of Jiangxi and the town of Jingdezhen, but continued into the mid-14th century. In addition to the advances in chemistry that allowed the creation of thin-walled vessels, Qingbai is distinguished by its smooth, glassy glaze, achieved by using a small amount of iron in a reduction fired kiln. The result is the characteristic blue-green tinted finish. Many of the motifs used in the decoration borrowed from textiles. Qingbai ware also borrowed and improved on decoration from the Ding and Yaozhou wares. Minute detail and beading accent the outside rims of many vessels, especially towards the end of the production. In the early 14th century the Jingdezhen potters created a sturdier ceramic body by adding more kaolin to the clay. This type of ceramic ware is referred to as luanbai (eggshell white) because of its opaque glaze. Luanbai ware was short lived but helped to establish a precedent for new mixtures of clay. == Images ==

File:Fluted Jar (Quan) with Loops on Shoulder LACMA M.73.48.107.jpg|Fluted jar (quan) with loops on shoulder, Northern Song dynasty, 960–1127, the brown from added iron oxides File:Song Dynasty Porcelain.jpg|Pieces of (l to r) the 11th, 12th–13th, 13th centuries, on the right a model grain store File:B-Qingbai-Kanne mit Deckel. Song. Museum für Asiatische Kunst. .jpg|Ewer with cover, Song File:China, Song dynasty - Meiping Vase with Carved Floral Sprays - 2017.20 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Song meiping vase with carved floral spray File:Clevelandart 1980.185.a (cropped).jpg|Southern Song cup Plat, M.C. 9931.jpg|Platter. Jingdezhen, Southern Song, 1127–1279. Musée Cernuschi File:Qingbai glazed bowl with carved peony designs Jingdezhen ware 1127 1279.jpg|Bowl with carved peony design, Jingdezhen ware, Southern Song, 1127–1279 File:Lidded Funerary Urn (Ping) with Crane and Dragon LACMA 48.3.53a-b.jpg|Lidded funerary urn (ping) with crane and dragon, late Southern Song dynasty, about 1200–1279 File:Qingbai glazed lamp Jingdezhen ware Yuan dynasty 1271 1368.jpg|Qingbai glazed lamp, Jingdezhen, Yuan, 1271–1368 File:Cheval et palefrenier.jpg|Horse and groom, tomb figures, Yuan dynasty File:Yuan porcelain buddha.JPG|Statue of Guanyin, Yuan dynasty File:Barmhärtighetens gudinna Guanyin sittande i en grotta. Qingbai-gods, Yuandynastin, cirka 1280-1330 - Hallwylska museet - 107695.tif|Detail of elaborate part-glazed shrine, nearly 30 cm tall, 1280–1330 File:Vase, Qingbai ware, Yuan dynasty, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG|Yuan dynasty vase, 13th–14th century File:Jingdezhen dish with moulded decoration, China, Yuan dynasty, c. 1300-1368, porcelain with qingbai glaze - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC04211.JPG|Jingdezhen dish with moulded decoration, Yuan dynasty, c. 1300–1368 File:Gourd-shaped jug qingbai, China, Yuan dynasty, 1279-1368 AD, porcelain - Östasiatiska museet, Stockholm - DSC09457.JPG|Gourd-shaped jug with iron-brown spots, Yuan dynasty, 1279–1368 ==Notes==