China has a long history of making superb ceramics which were in great demand in Europe. We came to call our fine dinnerware china.
An entire gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art is devoted to more than a thousand years of Chinese ceramics.
This candle holder in the shape of a lion is made of glazed stoneware and dates back to around A.D. 300.
A ewer with a lion-shaped spout from the 900s
A spouted ewer with a handle from the 900s
A vase of glazed stoneware with floral scrollwork from the 900s or 1000s
The lion-shaped top to an incense burner, made of green-glazed stoneware in the 1100s
A green glazed vase from the 1300s
From the 1300s a plate with a molded decoration of a dragon
A porcelain plate with grapes and floral sprays from around 1430
Chinese ceramics reached a new level of excellence during the Ming Dynasty. (We've all heard of Ming vases.) This large porcelain jar with lid was made around 1550;
That tradition of excellence continued under the Qing Dynasty. This vase with ox-blood red glaze looks surprisingly modern, but it dates from the 1600s or 1700s.
A gourd-shaped flask with floral scrolls from around 1725
A beautiful 18th century vase with flowering and fruiting branches of a peach tree
This porcelain dish with a woman and her attendant was made in 1713 for the Emperor's 60th birthday.
A porcelain vase with dragon handles and flowers and birds from the 1700s
That concludes our visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art's Asian galleries, one of the finest collections of Asian art in the country.
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