Asia , Qing dynasty, c. 1765–1835, with painted slip. The Mature
Indus Valley civilization (2600-1900 BC), produced stoneware bangles, within its urban centers. Early examples of stoneware have been found in China, naturally as an extension of higher temperatures achieved from early development of reduction firing, with large quantities produced from the
Han dynasty onwards. In both medieval China and Japan, stoneware was very common, and several types became admired for their simple forms and subtle glaze effects. Japan did not make porcelain until about 1600, and north China (in contrast to the south) lacks the appropriate kaolin-rich clays for porcelain on a strict Western definition.
Jian ware in the
Song dynasty was mostly used for tea wares, and appealed to Buddhist monks. Most
Longquan celadon, a very important ware in medieval China, was stoneware.
Ding ware comes very close to porcelain, and even modern Western sources are notably divided as to how to describe it, although it is not translucent and the body often grey rather than white. In China, fine pottery largely consisted of porcelain by the
Ming dynasty, and stoneware was mostly restricted to utilitarian wares and those for the poor. Exceptions to this include the unglazed
Yixing clay teapot, made from a clay believed to suit tea especially well, and
Shiwan ware, used for popular figures and architectural sculpture. In Japan many traditional types of stoneware, for example
Oribe ware and
Shino ware, were preferred for
chawan cups for the
Japanese tea ceremony, and have been valued up to the present for this and other uses. From a combination of philosophical and nationalist reasons, the primitive or
folk art aesthetic qualities of many Japanese village traditions, originally mostly made by farmers in slack periods in the agricultural calendar, have retained considerable prestige. Influential
tea masters praised the rough, spontaneous,
wabi-sabi, appearance of Japanese rural wares, mostly stoneware, over the perfection of Chinese-inspired porcelain made by highly skilled specialists. Stoneware was also produced in
Korean pottery, from at least the 5th century, and much of the finest Korean pottery might be so classified; like elsewhere the border with porcelain is imprecise.
Celadons and much
underglaze blue and white pottery can be called stoneware. Historical stoneware production sites in Thailand are
Si Satchanalai and
Sukhothai. The firing technology seems to have come from China.
Europe jasperware salt cellar with
The Dancing Hours, 1780–1785 In contrast to Asia, stoneware could be produced in Europe only from the late Middle Ages, as European kilns were less efficient, and the right sorts of clay less common. Some
ancient Roman pottery had approached being stoneware, but not as a consistent type of ware. Medieval stoneware remained a much-exported speciality of Germany, especially along the
Rhine, until the Renaissance or later, typically used for large jugs, jars and beer-mugs. "Proto-stoneware", such as
Pingsdorf ware, and then "near-stoneware" was developed there by 1250, and fully vitrified wares were being produced on a large scale by 1325. The
salt-glazed style that became typical was not perfected until the late 15th century. England became the most inventive and important European maker of fancy stoneware in the 18th and 19th centuries, but there is no clear evidence for native English stoneware production before the mid-17th century. German imports were common from the early 16th century at least, and known as "Cologne ware", after the centre of shipping it rather than of making it. Some German potters were probably making stoneware in London in the 1640s, and a father and son Wooltus (or Woolters) were doing so in
Southampton in the 1660s. In the second half of the 18th century
Wedgwood developed a number of ceramic bodies. One of these,
Jasperware, is sometimes classified as stoneware although its raw materials differ considerably from all other stonewares; it remains in production. Other manufacturers produced their own types, including various
ironstone china types, which some classified as earthenware. Significant amounts of modern, commercial tableware and kitchenware use stoneware, and it is common in craft and
studio pottery. The popular Japanese-inspired
raku ware is normally stoneware. ==Historical examples==