Robert D. Mowry
Ceramics made expressly for the Chinese Imperial Court first came to the fore during the Northern Song period (960-1127) with ivory-hued Ding ware and celadon-glazed Ru ware. Guan ware, with its crackled, grayish-blue glaze, enjoyed Imperial favor during the Southern Song period (1127-1279), and brought to a close the long tradition of subtly hued monochrome-glazed ceramics as those most preferred at court. Beginning life as a relatively humble ware during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), blue-and-white porcelains had claimed pride of place among Imperial wares by the early decades of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Porcelains embellished with designs painted in overglaze enamels, which had appeared already during the Ming, soared to popularity during the Qing (1644-1911), their naturalistic, pictorial designs exquisitely mimicking paintings on paper and silk.