Pre-Tang Ceramics of China: Chinese Pottery from 4000 B.C. to 600 A.D. (Faber Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain)

Chinese pottery from 4000 BC to 600 AD. The book divides China into seven ceramic zones and relates these to the developement of different cultures. The work traces the history of ceramics from the earliest appearance of pottery to the Tang dynasty. Information is organized geographically by regions with descriptions of local characteristics; the development of kilns and vessel shapes and models by using archaeological reports and other studies by Chinese scholars.

I don’t know of any better book on early Chinese pottery, still this subject is so large and complicated it needs a library of its own. I can also tell that if you prefer glossy pictures to academic text, this book might be a bit dry. I still would not want to be without it. That’s the way it is with quality.

Boston: Faber and Faber, 1991.

CLASSIC – Important on early Chinese pottery