Ceramic
Art is
Enduring
Luxury
Ceramics
are one of the world's oldest forms of cultural technology and
can be traced back more than 11,000 years to Asia and the Middle
East. The remarkable
durability of fired clay has enabled pottery to become perhaps
the most valuable and available records of human development.
Ceramics are also one of the most
valued forms of cultural and
artistic expression.
In cultures throughout the world, pottery has been
employed at all social levels for the most important events in developed and developing
societies -- from pious
religious ceremonies to more mundane but rather important activities
like eating and drinking.
The
Spice Trade
Trade
within Southeast Asia has existed since the Han dynasty (25BC -
220AD). It developed more during the dynasties of the Sui
(581 - 618) and Tang (618 - 907). Southeast Asian trade
became more of a focus during the extravagant Sung dynasty (960
- 1279) due to advancements in maritime technology and marauding
invasions from north China that disrupted trade with central
Asia.
Manufactured
goods such as silk and cotton textiles, iron implements, Porcelain
and cash coins from China were exchanged for mainly
native products of tropical countries. These Southeast
Asian products included plant-based goods (such as spices,
herbal medicines and hardwoods), exotic rarities (like pearls, precious stones,
colourful bird feathers and animal tusks) and raw materials
(sulfur, animal hides, copper, tin and raw cotton).
Of
thousands of products traded, Ceramics reigns supreme today
because of its remarkable ability to preserve itself in mint
condition even after being submerged in the sea or buried in the
soil for hundreds of years.
Ceramics tell the story of how the peoples of Asia forged social
and commercial ties with each other over the past 1,000 years.
The
Chalre Collection of
Asian
Ceramic Art
The
Chalre Collection comprises a diverse range of pottery styles
dating from more than 1,000 years ago.
Pieces are grouped according to type including: Celadon,
Whiteware, Blue and White Porcelain, Multi-Colour Porcelain and
Earthenware.
Included are a large number of shipwreck pieces dating
from the Ming dynasty period (1368 to 1644).
The
Ceramics of
The Chalre Collection are not only antiquities of stunning
beauty and unique value, but they provide incalculably important
information about human social and technological development
that occurred in Asia over past millennia.
Go to the
Chalre
Collection
of
Asian Ceramic Art
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