Although not hailed as a 'classic' ware by ceramic connoisseurs, 'blackware' from Deqing, where this ewer was made, represents an important milestone in the history of Chinese ceramics, for it was from this early southern stoneware that the famous dark-glazed tea bowls of the Song dynasty evolved.

Having accumulated centuries of experience making green-glazed stoneware (see p.24), potters in Deqing, Zhejiang province, tried a new line of products in the fourth century. These were daily utensils such as ewers and bottles, covered with either black or dark brown glazes. Technologically, these black and brown glazes were not difficult to make - all that was required was a higher content of iron. This could be achieved either by using an iron-rich clay in the glaze or by adding concentrated iron oxide to the ash glaze used for greenware.

Dark-glazed ceramics were probably first made in imitation of lacquer, but the matt glaze lacked the glossy appearance of painted lacquer. They were produced in smaller quantities than the popular green-glazed wares. The Southern kilns, including Deqing, introduced several imaginatively modelled shapes, with chicken-headed ewers like this piece, frog-shaped pots and tiger-shaped urinals display a naïve charm never seen before.