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How was the crackle decoration on Guan ware created?
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Chinese pottery
Painted Pottery funerary urn, Neolithic Banshan phase, c. 3000 bce, from Yangshao, Henan province, China; in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Height 13.2 inches (33.5 cm).
The crackle decoration on Guan ware was created by artisans who applied a brown pigment to the surface of the pottery to emphasize a wide-meshed network of cracks in the glaze. While some crackle patterns in other types of Chinese pottery were induced deliberately for decorative effect, the distinct appearance of Guan ware was specifically highlighted by this application of pigment into the crackle lines.12