Page 11 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 340

decoration is more typical of Jun wares associated with turquoise glaze from the Egyptians. The Syrians and
the Yuan dynasty, too, and the inscription reserved Babylonians formulated colored lead glazes by mixing
within a cartouche on the neck of this vessel states that it in metallic oxides such as copper, iron, and manganese.
was made by Xiao Song for himself. 37 Some of their ceramics, notably large architectural tiles
Yuan Jun wares with raised moldings are in some ways and reliefs such as on the Babylonian Ishtar gate
reminiscent of those Longquan wares that featured ap- (700–500 b.c.e.), represent a highly sophisticated level
pliqués—a type also found at this site in Inner Mongolia. of glazemaking. 41
The tripod incense burner, too, is rather similar in quality During the Yuan dynasty, too, peacock blue glaze,
to those produced at the provincial kilns at Jinhua (see Fig. which had been used sparingly in previous periods, be-
10.5) in Zhejiang province, which were part of the cargo of came popular and was combined with yellow ochre, olive
the ship that wrecked in 1323 off the coast of Korea near green, iron brown, and aubergine to create liuli (fluid
Sinan. Indeed, the Jinhua kilns were not far from the port glass) wares. In addition, architectural elements such as
of Ningbo, from which the ill-fated ship sailed. 38 bricks and roof tiles were made at local kilns known as li-
Some of the provincial Jun kilns also produced a vari- uli yao (kilns that fire glazed tiles). Four kilns in the vicin-
ety of Cizhou-type and northern black wares. The 1309 ity of Dadu (now Beijing) are mentioned in the literature
incense burner recovered in Inner Mongolia, other Yuan as providing both white and glazed polychrome liuli
42
dynasty Jun wares recovered in Beijing, and those from wares to the Yuan imperial court. A Yuan kiln in north-
the 1323 Sinan shipwreck all have coarsely molded bodies west Beijing, excavated in 1983, is believed to be one of
43
and murky glazes that may mean that during the Yuan dy- these four kilns. The traditional art district in Beijing
nasty such wares were intended for customers of more known as Liuli Chang (for “glazed tile factory”), which is
modest means. As Jun ware became more popular, too, it today located southwest of Tiananmen Square, is thought
seems that other kilns in Zhejiang and Guangxi to be the former site of another.
provinces began to produce it, which perhaps con- Some of the glazed architectural fragments unearthed in
tributed to declines in quality. 39 Beijing are decorated with dragons and phoenix designs,
A more refined type of Jun ware seems to have oc- and assumed to be from the Yuan palace. These are vari-
curred later in the fourteenth century, during the early ously identified in publications as stoneware or porcelain. 44
Ming dynasty. Standout examples include exquisite num- These motifs and the glaze technique correspond to those
bered garden pots, as well as a vessel in the shape of a on a yellow-, green-, and turquoise-glazed liuli-ware in-
bronze zun in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The cense burner excavated at another Yuan site in Beijing
vessel is covered with an uneven moon-white glaze (Fig. 7.12). It was probably created onsite or at a local kiln
marked by distinct bubbles that run down to the base. during a temple building project, given archaeological evi-
45
On the concave underside, covered in an ochre slip with dence for this practice. The flamboyant colored glazes on
blue details, is carved the Chinese character for “five” this incense burner and on liuli-ware ridge tile figures at the
(wu). Despite its likely creation in the early Ming, its lively early fourteenth-century Daoist temple Yongle Gong in
form is quite Yuan in spirit. 40 Shanxi are testaments to the popularity of dramatic surface
ornamentation during the Yuan period. 46
Liuli, Fahua, and Related Architectural Wares
Another way of achieving visual opulence was to lavish
By the Yuan dynasty, cobalt and copper mineral oxides hand-finished details on architectural elements such as
had long been employed in the production of large archi- seen on a brick in the form of a dancing figure (Fig. 7.13).
tectural tiles and reliefs in the region that is now Iran. In It was probably part of an elaborate composition akin to
Mongol times, copper and cobalt oxides were used in the those seen in the carved stone reliefs of the Yuan Buddhist
production of ceramics at Kashan, about 125 miles from site Juyong Guan (Fig. 7.14). Both the rich color used on
Teheran. Special reference to Kashani wares was made in liuli wares and the lively designs on related unglazed archi-
a list prepared for Khubilai Khan’s brother, Hulagu, upon tectural ceramics attest to the Mongol love of visual com-
the capture of Baghdad in 1258. And the earliest use of plexity. The Yuan imperial kiln at Jingdezhen also indulged
turquoise glaze with underglaze cobalt occurred in Egypt, in lavish colors: it used a peacock blue low-fired glaze over
where it was produced as early as the Middle Kingdom, fired porcelain, which was sometimes embellished with
including the seventeenth dynasty of the Second Inter- underglaze blue or gilt motifs (Figs. 7.15, 7.16).
mediate Period (about 2030 to 1540 b.c.e.). Indeed, Starting in the ninth and tenth centuries, sancai wares
it is believed that Syrians learned how to make had been made using lead glazes that fused to the surface

340 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics