Han Dynasty- Yeuh Ware

Yueh ware is perhaps the most celebrated of the siliceous stonwares fired in a dragon kiln and glazes with wood ash. They seem to mark the point at which ceramics freed itself from its utilitarian background and stepped into the realm of fine art. Yueh ware was created during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 AD) and were inspired by bronzes, possibly glass ware, even turned marble, while other were influenced by nature. Animals such as lions, bears, rams, and toads were sculpted and added to vessels as well carved or incised leaf and flower designs. Near the Shanglin lake animals such as parrots, turtles and fish decorated the Yeuh vessels.

The glazes the made up Yueh ware glazes include three parts dry Yueh clay body or siliceous clay and two parts well-washed wood ash. The kilns were then fired to somewhere between one thousand one hundred degrees Celcius and one thousand two hundred degrees Celcius. To find Yueh ware, one must go to the sites where the Yueh wares were made including Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Yixing in Jiangsu province, and Jingdezhen in Jiangsu province.