Deriving from Tang sancai, which is tri-colored glazed pottery from the Tang Dynasty, the Khitans of the Liao Dynasty creatively burned ethnic Liao sancai. The pottery, vividly glazed with gorgeous bands of yellow, white, and green, is characterized by its unaffected and bold native style.
This ewer, from the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum, has a strong traditional Khitan style in its design, decoration, and technique. With exquisite craftsmanship, unique patterns, and elaborate decoration, it is a treasure among the ceramics of the Liao Dynasty.
The body of the ewer is prolate, with a round flange, curved handle, short spout, and round foot. The base color of the body is gray, mixed with red, covered with a layer of Tao Yi. The entire ewer is glazed in yellow, green, and white, and carved with wave patterns and ruyi cloud patterns. The outside of the handle is decorated with an Asian paradise flycatcher design, and the base of its spout is in the shape of a bull’s head with its mouth open.
The same patterns are embossed on both sides of the body. The lotus in the center is decorated with a tai chi symbol outlining the aesthetic conception of “origin from the nature and embodiment of the natural essences.”
Liao sancai is the common name for low-fire glazed pottery made during the Liao Dynasty. Its glaze is not limited to three colors, but emphasizes a variety of colors. The earliest production of this pottery occurred before the Yingli reign of Emperor Muzong of the Liao Dynasty. The appearance of yellow-glazed or green-glazed monochrome pottery proves that sancai-glazed pottery existed at that time.
The design of Liao sancai most often features floral patterns, such as peonies. Famous items in existence include a flowering crab-apple dish with peony patterns, a flower-petal dish with lotus patterns, and a cockscomb flask with a handle. As noted, the three main colors are yellow, white, and green, but they are complemented with other colors, including black, purple, red, brown, and olive.
From the perspective of their colors, the biggest difference between Tang sancai and Liao sancai is that the latter style does not use blue glaze. Cobalt is used to make the blue glaze, and the territory of the Liao Dynasty lacked this material.
The production of Liao sancai utilizes borate as flux. This use of borate glaze during the Liao Dynasty represents a major breakthrough in the process of making ceramics, which is over 500 years older than foreign borosilicate enamel glaze.
Ceramics of the Liao Dynasty are hailed as “a wonderful work in the history of Chinese ceramics.” They are a significant part of Chinese ceramic culture. They contain the cultural aesthetics, sense of decoration, and spiritual strength of the Khitan people, who had a profound impact on the process of nomadic civilization and continue to capture the world’s imagination.