Glazed

Once the kiln technology for firing stoneware was acquired, the transition from unglazed to glazed ware was a progression which probably evolved from both experimentation and the unexpected results of kiln firing. The earliest glaze was most likely a natural occurrence when ash, from the wood used as fuel in the kiln, fell on the upper surface of a piece during firing. The ash melted and fused with the vessel forming a glaze, or glass-like covering.

The earliest glazed stoneware in the region was produced in Vietnam between the first and third centuries AD. Other countries with long0standing stoneware traditions are Cambodia, during the Khmer civilization between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, and Thailand from the tenth to the late sixteenth century and again in the twentieth century. Glazed stoneware was also made in Burma and Laos but the dates and types of production are not clearly defined.