Shiwan ware

Glazed tiles and reliefs on a memorial archway in Hong Kong, 1920s

Earlier wares were mostly thick, heavily glazed and designed for practical purposes, and later decorative wares were still relatively rough by contemporary Chinese standards. The kilns were large producers of roof tiles, including the ornamented or fully sculptural elements used for larger buildings. They also produced large but elegant storage jars called martabans, which were perhaps sometimes distributed containing food products, and sometimes as empty vessels. Both tiles and martabans were widely exported to the rest of China and East Asia. Production of these seems to have begun in the late Ming Dynasty, or perhaps the early Qing dynasty.[5]

At the same time the Shiwan kilns began to produce more decorative wares, using a range of coloured glazes that imitated famous wares of the classic Song dynasty. In particular the blue-to-purple glaze of Jun ware was imitated, on a variety of vessel shapes, and small figures. Such figures were, and remain, a third speciality of Shiwan, made for an essentially popular market. Initially they featured the same Buddhist figures as blanc de Chine from Dehua, but by the 19th century models of folk heroes and some satirical figures were produced; Shiwan was the major producer of such secular figurines. Bird and animal figures were also produced, all mostly using coloured glazes.[6] Shiwan figures functioned as the Chinese equivalent of English Staffordshire figurines. The human figures sometimes contrast flesh areas left in unglazed biscuit with glazed clothes and hair. Gestures and facial expressions are often dramatic.[7] The expansion of Shiwan's range may have been related to movements to the area of potters from Dehua and Jingdezhen.

Unlike other kiln centres like Jingdezhen, potter's marks were often used, allowing some to build up reputations among collectors, and giving some information about the structure of the industry, and lineages of potting families.[8] Helped by its proximity to Hong Kong, Shiwan continues to be a leader in contemporary Chinese ceramics design.[9]

Shiwan wares provide a contrast with more conservatively rendered Dehua efforts. Clay for the ware was provided not only from the local area, but also from distant locations that could be mixed to provide a variety of textures and desired ceramic outcomes. The range could extend from a porcelain, rivalling Dehua in purity, to a rough stoneware. Shiwan ware was widely exported. Its glazing techniques directly influenced Japanese Shiga wares and others.

• 
  White glazed censer with applied interlaced lotus flowers, Ming
• 
  Qing vase, in the shape of ancient jade congs.
• 
  Meiping vase with imitation Jun glaze, 19th century, British Museum
• 
  Water pot, 19th century
• 
  19th-century figure
• 
  Lion figure, 19th century
• 
  Wang Zhaojun Marrying the Xiongnu Ruler, by Chen Wei Yan (died 1926)

• Cantonese culture

• "Grove": "Shiwan", in The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, p. 348, Volume 1, ed. Gordon Campbell, google books
• Vainker, S.J., Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705
• Valenstein, S. (1998). A handbook of Chinese ceramics (fully available online), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. ISBN 9780870995149

• Shanghai Peoples' Art Museum, Sekiwan yo (Shiwan Ware), Chinese Ceramic Library, vol. 24, Tokyo, 1982.

Media related to Shiwan ware at Wikimedia Commons