My Start in Porcelain

I had always been interested in crackled Celadon porcelain (more on this in another blog) but my serious "I've got to have that!" experience was with the black pieces of the Song (Sung in some pronunciations) dynasty of China. My first ever porcelain purchase was the black glaze jar with brown splashes on the right. As I became more and more interested I realize that this favorite piece was just the start and my tastes changed as I learned more and more about the subject. The bowl on the left is a nice example of Ding ware, one subset of Song porcelain. My study of Song items continued and I learned more and more about the Chinese culture of the dynasty: Northern Song 960 - 1127 and Southern Song 1127 - 1197. The real beauty of Song porcelains is their simplicity in form and color. There is nothing simple about their glazing and firing techniques, but the cleanliness of lines and color are very appealing to me. Tom