Page 10 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 339

period, which ended in 1126, and continued into the
Ming dynasty, when the renowned numbered-flower ves-
31
sels are thought to have been made. The numbered Jun
wares are believed to have been produced at a single kiln
site near the Juntai Terrace, inside the north gate of the
administrative seat of what was formerly known as
Yuzhou prefecture, Henan province. But although un-
numbered Jun works have been found in many tombs
and among several caches of buried treasure, including
datable finds from the Jin (1115–1234) and Yuan dynas-
ties, none of the numbered Jun wares have been found in
any datable context. 32 The mystery surrounding when
these numbered Jun wares were made has aroused con-
siderable discussion among scholars. There is no men-
tion of Jun ware in Cao Zhao’s Essential Criteria of
Antiquities published in 1388, noted earlier, which makes
mention of all of the popular and famous wares of the
7.10. Jun ware ruyi lappet-shaped pillow with azure glaze and
Song and Yuan periods. And although a numbered Jun
purple splashes, Yuan dynasty, thirteenth century, 13.4 cm tall,
ware is represented in a 1437 painting, the earliest men- 30.8 cm maximum face length, 19.7 cm maximum face width, 19
tion of Jun ware in a Chinese text appears to occur in a cm maximum base width. National Palace Museum, Taipei.
book published in 1504. 33
Excavations at the Juntai kiln site in 1974 yielded a
mold for a “Xuanhe” (1119–1125) coin and vessel bear-
ing an inscribed Fenghua mark, which at the time was
considered a reference to the Fenghua Pavilion within
the Northern Song Palace at Kaifeng. Further study,
however, indicated that the mold was actually for making
counterfeit coins and was made sometime after the Yuan
dynasty. The Fenghua-marked vessel is related to wares
now considered to be Qing dynasty imperial reproduc-
tions and actually refers to the name of a palace hall asso-
ciated with the reign of the Southern Song emperor
Gaozong (r. 1127–1162). 34
A milestone in Jun ware studies began with further ex-
cavations at the Juntai kiln site in 2004. At that time,
some numbered Jun wares were found in a pit along with
turquoise-glazed wares and stem cups, both characteris-
tic of Yuan dynasty wares; consequently, a Yuan date for
numbered wares began to be considered by some who
35
had previously given them a Song or Jin date. Thermo-
luminescence tests as well as archaeological evidence,
however, point to a late Yuan to early Ming date for num-
bered Jun wares. 36 7.11. Jun ware tripod incense burner or censer with milky or sky
Many unnumbered Jin and Yuan dynasty Jun wares blue glaze and inscribed date equivalent to 1309 (a Jiyou year
cyclical date), 42.7 cm tall. Excavated in 1970 at Baitai village,
can be distinguished from Song wares by their shapes.
near Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia Autonomous
The pillow in the form of a ruyi lappet is considered a fine Region Museum.
thirteenth-century Jin or early Yuan example, since its
outlines are simpler and more distinct than Song dynasty
examples. And the incense burner recovered in Baitai vil-
lage, Inner Mongolia, also has a Yuan form. Its molded

Yuan Dynasty Ceramics 339