The use of glaze ash was an important technique in ancient Chinese ceramics-making.In 1987, through excavation at the Guantai kiln-site of Cizhou ware in Cixian county, Hebei, a ruined kiln (designated No. 1) was foun...The use of glaze ash was an important technique in ancient Chinese ceramics-making.In 1987, through excavation at the Guantai kiln-site of Cizhou ware in Cixian county, Hebei, a ruined kiln (designated No. 1) was found to be the vestiges of a kiln for firing glaze ash as )udged by its structure and the remaining deposits of the firewood and slaked lime alternately piled in it. This discovery transferred the reliable date of the first use of glaze ash in China to an earlier period, i.e. to Emperor Huizong' s reign, Northern Song dynasty. The application of glaze ash greatly expanded the limits of selecting raw materials for making glaze. At the Cizhou Kilns, the glaze made by means of glaze ash must have imitated that on the white porcelain of Ding ware. The firewood used for formulating glaze ash was in great variety, reflecting the initial form without the standardization of material selection. In addition, the discovery evidences that there was certain division of labor in the production at the Cizhou Kilns of the late Northern Song period.展开更多
文摘The use of glaze ash was an important technique in ancient Chinese ceramics-making.In 1987, through excavation at the Guantai kiln-site of Cizhou ware in Cixian county, Hebei, a ruined kiln (designated No. 1) was found to be the vestiges of a kiln for firing glaze ash as )udged by its structure and the remaining deposits of the firewood and slaked lime alternately piled in it. This discovery transferred the reliable date of the first use of glaze ash in China to an earlier period, i.e. to Emperor Huizong' s reign, Northern Song dynasty. The application of glaze ash greatly expanded the limits of selecting raw materials for making glaze. At the Cizhou Kilns, the glaze made by means of glaze ash must have imitated that on the white porcelain of Ding ware. The firewood used for formulating glaze ash was in great variety, reflecting the initial form without the standardization of material selection. In addition, the discovery evidences that there was certain division of labor in the production at the Cizhou Kilns of the late Northern Song period.
