Ancient Glass and Pottery. 13 



earthenware, mostly fired in higher temperatures ; then the 

 stone wares, harder, whiter, denser, somewhat vitreous; next, 

 porcelains made under highest temperatures, vitreous, trans- 

 lucent, made of quartz and kaolin, and the soft paste porce- 

 lains made of kaolin without quartz, but sometimes with 

 other softer materials. 



In China there was well glazed, single colored earthen- 

 ware of good form, coloring and finish during the Hesia, 

 Shang, and Chou dynasties. These periods date back from 

 2205 to 205 B. C. There are very few, if any, certainly 

 authenticated examples of this old ware, excepting some 

 pieces or fragments that evidently run back perhaps through 

 this period, showing only common earthenware, but nothing 

 that appears to be as far advanced as stoneware ; nor was 

 there any ornamentation other than the color that was in the 

 glaze. During the latter part of these reigns there has been 

 claimed by Chinese historians to have been something like 

 porcelain or stoneware, which among the earlier Chinese 

 were classed together, not making sufficient distinction be- 

 tween the opaque and the translucent. 



hi the Han period which covers what is known as the 

 Han and the eastern Han reign from 201 B. C. to 220 A. D., 

 there have been found a considerable number of good ex- 

 amples that were authenticated as belonging to this period. 

 It was a time when there were seemingly more religious 

 rites, and more ancient tombs, temples and sepulchres, and 

 in these there were found quite a considerable number of 

 interesting examples, particularly in a series of ancient tombs 

 that were swept away by a great flood in the Yellow river 

 a few years ago. 



There are two examples here, one of which is regarded 

 as the finest and most characteristic piece that has been 

 found. (Pieces were shown). 



I have found no fine examples coming between this Han 

 period and the Sung dynasty — 420 to 47-9 A. I). 



The example from this Sung period comes from a priest- 

 ly temple and tomb. ft is a taller piece and quite exten- 

 sively ornamented with symbolic figures of men and animals, 

 supposed to be sacred priests with the dragon, and various 

 other symbols representative of religious ideas .if the times. 

 It is of a more common variety of earthenware with only a 

 common, plain gray glaze, but highly prized by collectors, 

 fhe next period of which 1 have satisfactory examples 



