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For Chinese high-fired glazed ceramics, a slip can improve the quality of products in many ways; however, when and how the artisans started applying a slip before glazing is still relatively unknown. Some Han dynasty Jiangdong-type calcium glazed wares were unearthed from two tomb groups in Zhejiang. The results show that under the calcium glaze layer, there is another slip coating, which contains high levels of iron and potassium. The underglaze coating can beautify the wares and it could be regarded as the earliest engobe technology on high-fired ceramic. Further, the raw materials used in the slip coating can be traced back to the so-called mud glaze black pottery, which began to appear in the late Neolithic period. We believe that the high-temperature calcium glaze was made of plant ash, which suggests similarities to proto-porcelain that dates back to the pre-Qin period. These glazed wares might be a typical kind of proto-porcelain from the end of the Warring States period and Han dynasty, representing a combination of mud glaze and plant ash glaze.

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