Fragment of Qingbai porcelain
- Object Name
- Fragment of Qingbai porcelain
- Culture / Site
- China, Northern Song dynasty; excavated at Tadmekka
- Medium
- Porcelain
- Date
- 10/12th century
- Dimensions
- 1.48 x 1.74 cm
- Credit Line
- Institut des sciences humaines, Bamako, Mali, No. 17.1. Photograph by Clare Britt
- Section
- Saharan Frontiers/Tadmekka
- Description
The commodities and manufactured goods that moved along trans-Saharan trade routes were often destined for markets at astonishing distances from their places of origin. This small fragment of celadon porcelain that was excavated at the site of Essouk-Tadmekka, Mali, is a type known as Qingbai ware. Produced in southeastern China, Qingbai pottery was widely exported between the tenth and twelfth century and was exchanged along routes moving from market to market in a process called relay trade. Fragments of Qingbai ware have been found at medieval sites from Central Asia to Egypt and across the Sahara. The shape of this fragment suggests that it once formed part of the rim of a bowl.