Plate in the shape of a flower

Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty

The earliest of the glazed funerary pottery in the cases around you date to around 100 BCE. Most of these early examples are either green or yellow. Over the following centuries, Chinese potters experimented with lead-based glazes and added blue, white, and a number of other colors to their palette. At the peak of their development in the Tang dynasty, glazes were made in five or six colors.

These colorful Tang-dynasty ceramics are known in Chinese as sancai, or three-color wares. The glazes were applied with little apparent regard for the natural coloration of the animal or object depicted, and sancai wares are among the few examples in Chinese ceramics that have the appearance of spontaneity. However, this appearance can be deceiving, as a range of devices, including the application of resists and the incising of patterns on the surface, were sometimes used to control the flow of the glaze.

The peak period of production of sancai wares was short—from about 690 to 750. The vast number of objects found in Chinese tombs and in collections around the world is evidence of the everlasting charm of this medieval Chinese aristocratic fashion.