Credits

Canteen, Syria or Northern Iraq, Ayyubid period, mid-13th century, brass, silver inlay. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1941.10

Image: Courtesy National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution

Candlestick, Northern Iraq (Possibly Mosul) or Western Iran, c.1300–50, brass inlaid with silver, gold, and black compound. Aga Khan Museum, AKM962.

Image courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, ON Canada

Northern white ware, China, 7th century, hard-paste porcelain. Seattle Museum of Art, Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 49.140.

Image: Courtesy of Seattle Art Museum

A gongci porcelain imitating archaic bronze, vase in bian hu vessel form, Jingdezhen, China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795). Royal Ontario Museum, Gift of Mrs. H.D. Warren, 911.8.79.

Image: Courtesy Royal Ontario Museum

Wang Shouren 王守仁 (Chinese, 1472–1529), Letters to Zheng Bangrui 鄭邦瑞with anonymous portrait of Wang Shouren, China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), c. 1523-1525, handscroll, ink on paper. Princeton University Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Edward L. Elliott, y1979-95.

Image: Courtesy Princeton University Art Museum

Miniature Pilgrim Flask, al-Fayyūm, Egypt, Hellenistic, Ptolemaic period, mould-made earthenware with black slip, Royal Ontario Museum, 910.176.13.

Image: Courtesy of ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), Toronto, Canada. ©ROM

Seeing Eve, Sin-ying Ho (Canadian), 2009, porcelain with hand-painted cobalt pigment, computer decal transfer, terra sigillata. Promised gift from the Raphael Yu Collection.

Image: Courtesy of the Artist

Architectural Brick with Dancer in Relief, before 870. Xiundingsi pagoda, Henan province, China, Tang dynasty (618-907), before 870, molded terracotta with slip coating. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of C. T. Loo 1921.263

Image: Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art

Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden, Anonymous, China, Song dynasty (960-1279), National Palace Museum, Taipei

Image: Courtesy of National Palace Museum, Taipei

Rosewater sprinkler, Mughal, probably late 17th century, Victoria and Albert Museum, Gift in memory of Michael Jones, IS.46-1988

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden, attributed to Xie Huan 謝環, Xingyuan yaji tu杏園雅集圖, China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), c.1437, handscroll; ink and colour on silk. Metropolitan Museum of Art, purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1989, 1989-141-3.

Image: Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art

Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar, Willem Kalf (Dutch, 1619–1693), 1669, oil on canvas. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Gift of Mrs. James W. Fesler in memory of Daniel W. and Elizabeth C. Marmon, 45.9.

Image: Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

Elephant-shaped kendi transformed into a huqqa base. Chinese porcelain base (1573-1619), silver gilt mounts added in Turkey (19th century), porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue, silver gilding. Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2009-02245.

Image: Courtesy of Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore

Porcelain painters relied on illustrated versions of the book as sources for the creation of narrative wares. This version of the Romance of the Western Chamber published in 1598 by Ji Zhi Zhai 繼志齋 from the National Archives of Japan is an example.

Image: Courtesy National Archives of Japan

This painting on the right unites the passions of tulips and porcelain. A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (Flemish, 1573-1621), 1609-1610, oil on copper. The National Gallery, London.

© The National Gallery, London

Right: Emperor Wu-tsung 明武宗of the Ming dynasty, China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk. National Palace Museum.

Image: Courtesy Shuge and the National Palace Museum, Taipei

"Emperor Qianlong is one and two" scroll, Ding Guanpeng 丁觀鵬 (Chinese, active 1708-1771), Qing dynasty (1644-1911), ink and colours on silk.

Image: Palace Museum Collection, Beijing

Segment from Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden, After Xie Huan (Chinese, 1377–1452), China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), c. 1437, handscroll, ink and color on silk. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1989.141.3 1989.

Image: Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art

This double-gourd form ewer is made in cloisonné enamel. China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), 1500s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 29.110.30, Gift of Edward G. Kennedy, 29.110.30.

Image: Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saz-style drawing of a dragon amid foliage, Shah Quli (Turkish, born Tabriz, Iran, active c. mid-16th century), attributed to Turkey, Istanbul, c. 1540–1550, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956, 57.51.26.

Image: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The phoenix is represented in "Qin Chong Dian,", Gujin Tushu Jicheng (古今圖書集成), [The Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times: Avian and Insect Compendium], Volume 515, Chen Menglei (陳夢雷), China, c. 1700-1725. Shaanxi Provincial Library.

Image: Courtesy Shaanxi Provincial Library

Ye ju qiu chun (“Wild Chrysanthemums and Autumn Quail”), Attributed to Li Anzhong 李安忠(Chinese, active 1119-1162), National Palace Museum, Taipei, 故畫001289

Image: Courtesy National Palace Museum, Taipei

Bowls from kilns in Changsha, Hunan, China, Tang dynasty (618-907), c.825-850, glazed stoneware with underglaze of iron-brown and copper-green pigments. Sentosa Leisure Group and the Government of Singapore.

Image: ArtScience Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Chinese workers labor at an ancient kiln to make porcelain products in Jingdezhen or the Town of Jingde, east China's Jiangxi province.

Image: Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock Photo

Kaolinite sample

By James St. John https://www.flickr.com/people/jsjgeology?rb=1 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/32350111650/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55955155

Aerial view of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China, June 19, 2023

Imago / Alamy Stock Photo

Page from Zhangwuzhi 長物志 (“Treatise on Superfluous Things”), Wen Zhenheng 文震亨 (1586-1645), Ming dynasty (1368-1644), National Central Library, Taipei.

Image: Courtesy National Central Library, Taipei

Mountain-form brush rest with mythical beasts, China, Late Ming (1368-1644) - early Qing (1644-1911) dynasty, 17th century, pewter, brass. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2023.

Image: Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candlestick, Northern Iraq (Possibly Mosul) or Western Iran, c.1300–50, brass inlaid with silver, gold, and black compound. Aga Khan Museum, AKM962.

Image courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, ON Canada

Octagonal candlestick with interlaced sprays. China, Ming dynasty, Xuande period (1426-1435), porcelain with underglaze blue decoration. Shanghai Museum.

Image: Courtesy Shanghai Museum

The decoration on the bowl derives from the scene entitled Wei Taizi Cao Pi Bingzheng 魏太子曹丕秉政 (“Wei Prince Cao Pi Ruled”) in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中. This illustrated edition was published c.1644-1735. National Central Library, Taipei.

Image: Courtesy World Digital Library

This Yuan dynasty bottle exemplifies the underglaze red technique. Yuhuchun bottle, China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), c.1320-1368, glazed porcelain. British Museum, Gift of R.F.A. Riesco, 1961,0216.3.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Luxury ewer extending good fortune to the owner, inscribed by Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili (Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?), Iraq, 1223, brass inlaid with silver; lid and base added later. The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1956.11.

Image: Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art

Lotuses and two herons, China, possibly Ming dynasty (1368-1644), ink and colour on silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Freer Gallery of Art, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1916-561.

Image Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art