Stone Age Chinese Art
3000-2000 BC
jar from Ban'po, 4800 BC
The earliest form of art we know from China was pottery - clay pitchers and bowls. Most of the best early pottery comes from a place called Ban’po and it is named after that place. This Ban'po pottery was handmade (not on a potter's wheel). At first the polished red pots were plain.
Pottery bowl from Henan in Northern China,
about 3500 BC (Musee
Guimet, Paris)
Then they were painted with black swirling spirals and geometric shapes, and sometimes with human faces. Later on, the Chinese used a brush to paint their pottery, and the designs became more sophisticated.
Pottery jar from Gansu in North-West China,
about 2500 BC (Musee
Guimet, Paris)
To find out more about Chinese art in the Stone Age, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, by Jessica Rawson and others (1996). Rawson is a curator at the British Museum, and she uses the collection of the British Museum to illustrate this book. Library Journal calls it "easily the best introductory overview of Chinese art to appear in years".
Art in China (Oxford History of Art Series), by Craig Clunas (1997). Not specifically for kids, but a good introduction to the spirit of Chinese art. Warning: this one is not arranged in chronological order. Instead, it has chapters on sculpture, calligraphy, and so on.
