As early as the late Neolithic Age in Beiqiu, Shiwan Ceramics had already unveiled the historical preface of firing pottery, and the history of large-scale kilns in Shiwan can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty at the latest. In 1950s and 1970s, the kiln sites of Tang and Song Dynasties were discovered in Shiwan, Foshan and Kistler, Nanhai. The excavated kiln sites are all semi-ceramics, with low temperature, low hardness, thick green tires and loose tires, which are typical southern pottery in Tang Dynasty.
After the Han Dynasty, due to the gradual development of commerce and the massive circulation of money, copper was mostly used for coinage, and copper daily necessities were mostly replaced by pottery, so the pottery industry flourished, which also promoted the growth of pottery, formed an independent handicraft industry, and pottery went to the market to become a commodity. Ceramic art began in the Tang and Song Dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, he was famous for imitating the monarch, and was known as "Guang Jun" and "Foshan Jun". After the Qing Dynasty, Shiwan pottery gradually appeared with a unique appearance. According to the needs and hobbies of people's life, Shiwan craftsmen make various practical and beautiful utensils with local clay and glaze. Change the shapes of birds, animals, insects, fish and plants, and shape them into various small utensils, flower arrangements, wall hangings, stationery, cigarette cups and so on. Sculptures are also based on the most common images of local people, such as fishing firewood, ploughing fields, reading books, immortals, historical heroes, cows, horses, lions, monkeys, chickens and ducks. Therefore, it is lifelike and most appreciated by people, and is affectionately called "Shiwan doll". "Shiwan Doll" is collected or used by almost every household in Guangdong, even foreign collectors are no exception. For example, Wendy, a Portuguese lawyer living in Macao, and Shi Qinren, an American doctor, all have hundreds of Shiwan pottery. Collectors of Shiwan art pottery in Hong Kong and Macao are more common. Mr. Yang Quan, a well-known collector in Hong Kong, donated more than 200 pieces of Shiwan art pottery to Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts Museum at one time, which shows its rich collection. The Guangdong Provincial Museum in Guangzhou has collected nearly a thousand pieces of Shiwan pottery, and there are also a few objects with inscriptions, most of which are fine works.
Shiwan pottery has always been a tributary of the economic source that Shiwan kiln relies on. If there were no large-scale daily-use pottery in Shiwan in the past, there would be no room for pottery to attach to, and at best it would only be the icing on the cake of Shiwan kiln. No one has ever recorded the number of tens of thousands of pottery pots produced by Shiwan Kiln every year, but every masterpiece of Shiwan pottery is treasured by people. Its "thin fairy", "Maitreya Buddha" and even its bizarre "golden toad" and "blessed lion" are unforgettable. "Shiwan doll" has become a word of mouth and a cultural accumulation. Even if Shiwan pottery industry enters the future world period, people will still know, remember and cherish its pottery.
After thousands of years, ceramic art has been gradually classified. There are figures, immortals, birds and beasts, insects and fish, mountains and rivers, pavilions, melons and fruits, and architectural ridges.