There are prairie-style pottery from the Yuan Dynasty. Genghis Khan established the Mongolian Khanate in 1206. In 1271, Kublai Khan changed the name of the country to "Dayuan", taking the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" in the "Book of Changes". Unified the country in 1279.
The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was unprecedentedly vast, and the pottery of the Yuan Dynasty also obviously had the unique style of the grassland people. Many types of utensils unique to the Mongolian people were newly created and burned in the shapes of the utensils. The previous generation was exquisite.
In the Yuan Dynasty, a Privy Council was established to manage the firing of ceramics. The ceramics produced by the Privy Council had a sweet white glaze color and were called "Privy Council Porcelain" by later generations. At this time, foreign trade and cultural exchanges between China and the West were frequent, and a large number of ceramics for export began to be produced. Most of the blue and white porcelain that was popular in the Yuan Dynasty was exported to many Islamic countries in the Middle East.
When the Yuan Dynasty created many new varieties, it also inherited and developed the pottery style of the Song Dynasty. The glaze color was thick and round, and the vessel shape was round and strong. In many places, there were obvious characteristics of absorbing Han culture.
The Yuan Dynasty pottery dragon discovered in Puzhou, Shanxi is huge, 198 cm long, 50 cm wide and 70 cm high. There are traces of glazing on the whole body, but the color has peeled off. There are dragons on all parts except the dragon head. There are scales, wavy fins on the top of the dragon's back, a longer head, a wide mouth, green teeth and fangs, a beard on the lower jaw, round eyes, and a mane on the back of the head, but its legs are obviously missing. The dragon has strong legs and is surrounded by clouds and mist.
This pottery dragon actually belongs to the ancient enamel ware, also known as enamel flower ware or French flower ware, which is based on various glaze colors such as blue, green, yellow, purple, and white. Low temperature glazed pottery.
The production techniques of Shanxi and Jingdezhen enamel wares are basically similar. The main differences are in the texture and glaze color. Due to the complex and special production processes of these two types of enamel wares, their short production history and their production The area is relatively small, so there are not many products that can be well preserved and handed down, and the fine products that are passed down to the world and hidden among the people are even rarer.
The body of this pottery dragon is obviously pottery, so it is judged to be an enamel vessel made in Shanxi. There are also obvious differences in the quality of enamel wares due to different places of origin and eras.
The ones brought out from Puzhou area are from the late Yuan Dynasty. Its body is purely made of earth, its glaze is pure like glass glaze, but it is still made of material, and its blue is like the blue of a dark gemstone. , its purple is like the purple of dark amethyst, its yellow is like gold foil, but slightly darker and translucent than gold foil. The malachite green color is particularly bright, and the place where the glaze hangs down is not black. The green on the glaze is brighter than other glazes, and is consistent with other glazes. It is like green water, and the green at the bottom is the same as the spinach green of emerald jade.
In terms of decorative techniques, this pottery dragon uses traditional craft techniques such as molding, kneading, engraving, and decals. It looks elegant and simple from an aesthetic point of view. At the same time, the enamelware has a unique glaze color. Most of them are bright and bright enamel, enamel blue, and enamel purple, which can also be seen on the remaining glaze spots on this pottery dragon.
This type of dragon has the characteristics of dragons from the Yuan Dynasty. It has a long and flat head, bright eyes, thick eyebrows, extended horns, slender body and fierce momentum. It is speculated that there should be a pair of them, distributed in On both sides of the roof of the main hall, there should be very rare decorative accessories of Yuan Dynasty palace buildings, which are of great value to the study of Yuan Dynasty palace architecture.
The pottery of the Yuan Dynasty is thick, slightly rough, and mostly grayish-yellow. It is painted with white clay, and the glaze is white with grayish-yellow glaze. Some are not fine and smooth, and the black color is mostly yellowish-brown. The decoration is mainly plain white porcelain, white glaze and black flowers.
The decorative method of drawing patterns on black color appeared in the Song Dynasty and was also used in the Yuan Dynasty. It was generally used to draw scales on fish and dragons or feathers on geese and phoenixes. There are also black-glazed rust flowers and white-glazed black flowers covered with low-temperature peacock blue glaze. Due to the lower temperature, the glaze of the latter is easy to burn out.
The common decorations on white-glazed pottery with black flowers include dragons and phoenixes, clouds and geese, fish and algae, cirrus clouds, flowers, baby plays, character stories, flowers and birds, poems, etc.
Drama was popular in the Yuan Dynasty and produced a large number of ceramic sculptures. The Zaju pottery figurines found in Yuan Dynasty tombs in Jiaozuo, Henan, show various forms of rap and dance. One of them is wearing a Mongolian robe and hat, felt boots, and a belt around his waist. His head is slightly tilted to the right, with one hand pointing up and the other pointing down, twisting his waist, and performing a step dance with a focused expression.
Another pottery figurine is in simple clothing, wearing a cap on its head, holding a musical instrument in its left hand, and crossing two fingers of its right hand in its mouth to make a whistle, which looks like a ventriloquism performance. The figurines successfully express the character of the Mongolian people who are optimistic and bold. The sculpture technique is simple, the image is vivid and lifelike, and it is full of life interest. It is a representative work of Yuan Dynasty ceramic sculpture.
Yuan pottery is larger in size, including bowls, plates, jars, bottles, pillows, basins, flat pots, jade pots, spring vases, tall bowls, etc.
A large black pottery bowl from the Yuan Dynasty, with a diameter of 17.5 cm and a height of 6 cm, is grand and simple.
The Yuan Dynasty pottery incense burner discovered in Yanmiao Village, Huilong Township, Zhaoji District, has exquisite craftsmanship and simple shape. There are symmetrical and lively looking puppies on both sides of the furnace as the ears, and there are three tripod-shaped tiger legs below. Most of the green enamel on the furnace body has fallen off, and only the depressions remain. The furnace is 15 cm high, 9 cm in diameter and 11 cm in abdominal diameter. It is a sacrificial item from the Yuan Dynasty.
The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty relied on iron cavalry to conquer the world, but there are very few sculptures of horses in the Yuan Dynasty, so the pottery horses in pottery are extremely precious. There is a Yuan Tao horse, 20.6 cm high and 25 cm long, made of gray pottery, with a cage on its head, erect ears, a long mane on its neck, a thick and long tail, and four legs standing upright on a rectangular support board.
In addition, a complete painted pottery "carriage and horse traveling guard of honor" was discovered in an ancient tomb in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. There are 81 pottery figurines, pottery horses, and pottery carts, all of which are painted pottery. Pink, red and green are the main colors, and the colors are bright, forming a complete "carriage and horse traveling honor guard". There are also pottery warehouses, pottery tables and other Ming pottery vessels.
The pottery figurines from the Yuan Dynasty Tomb of the He family in Hu County, Shaanxi Province include male attendant figurines, female attendant figurines, ceremonial guard figurines, horse riding figurines, horse leading figurines, Hu people riding camels beating drums, and leading camels. Figurines, etc., totaling nearly 60 pieces. The overall height of the attendant figurines is 30 to 33 centimeters, and the overall height of the equestrian figurines is about 45 centimeters.
The female attendant in He's tomb has her hair tied up in a double-braided bun. She is wearing a short jacket with narrow sleeves and a long skirt. The right robe has long sleeves and a scarf, while the ceremonial guard figurine wears a futou, a robe with a coiled collar and narrow sleeves, a leather belt around the waist, short boots, and a bent left arm in a shouting gesture.
The best sculptor is a group of equestrian figurines, some with braided hair, some wearing wide-brimmed felt hats, belt knives, arrow baskets on their backs, stirrups on their feet, and reins in their left hands. The saddle is thrown away with the right hand, as if raising the whip to urge the horse, which depicts the Mongolian life and customs of being proficient in riding and advocating hunting.
A figurine of a horse was also found in He's tomb. The figurine is 34 cm high and the horse is 37 cm high. Gray pottery, molded. The horse-leading figurine wears a round hat on its head, with braids hanging down to its shoulders, a robe, and a belt around its waist. Its right hand is bent to the chest, and its left hand is stretched out to one side, as if it is leading the horse to set off. The pottery horse carries the luggage, which is tied tightly with ropes. The two sculptures are cleverly combined and have a strong flavor of life.
The Yuan Dynasty pottery figurines in He's tomb are famous for their realistic artistic techniques and well-proportioned shapes. The production of pottery figurines in the Yuan Dynasty is generally rough. This is because, on the one hand, the continued popularity of paper utensils and on the other hand, they are deeply influenced by Mongolian funeral customs. The Mongolian people have a tradition of burying their people in deep graves, so they generally do not use figurines for burial. Only some Han people and a few Khitan officials still use pottery figurines for burial.
The Yuan Dynasty pottery figurines are mainly found in Shaanxi and Sichuan. Shaanxi is represented by the Yuan figurines discovered in the tomb of Duan Jirong and his wife in Chixi Village, Qujiang, Xi'an, the He family's tomb in Weiqu Village, Chang'an County, and the Yuan Tomb in Baoji.
Shaanxi Yuan figurines are all dark gray and not glazed. They have a certain artistic level in terms of skills and production methods, and are realistic in style. They include male and female attendant figurines, equestrian figurines, camel figurines, and horse figurines. Etc., most of the figurines are of Mongolian and Hu people.
In terms of the combination of pottery figurines, the four-god figurines that were quite popular in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty disappeared in the Yuan Dynasty, and the faces of the characters mostly have the characteristics of ethnic minorities and foreign cultures.