The Story of Asian Ceramic Art

By: Richard Mills
Submitted: 2009-06-24 12:50:28
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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.     

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.

Tradeware ceramics tell the story of how the peoples of Asia forged social and commercial ties with each other over the past millennium.  The Chalre Collection comprises a diverse range of pottery styles dating from almost 2,000 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.

With upwards of 2,000 pieces, The Chalre Collection is one of the largest non-institutional Ceramic Art collections in the Southeast Asia region.  It is also one of the most diverse comprising pottery styles used over the past 1,500 years.   It is the intention of the principals that a significant portion of the Chalre collection will become the property of a museum or other public body at an appropriate time in the future.    

Chalre Associates is an Executive Search partner to multinational corporations throughout the Asia Pacific region but with specific focus in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.  The principals are active in promoting the industries they serve through the Asia CEO Forum (http://www.asia-ceo.org) and other means.

Article source: Expert Articles