Page 41 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 370

covered in 1998. A creation date of 826 suggested by an use of underglaze blue painting did not persist, perhaps
inscription on a bowl was confirmed by carbon-14 analy- because it did not appeal to the Chinese elite, because the
sis, and the underglaze blue painted floral designs on the ore was not readily available to Chinese potters, or be-
vessels found here have been linked to contemporary ce- cause it could not compete with sometimes similarly dec-
ramics from Iraq. 173 orated glazed earthenwares, which would have been
Underglaze cobalt found at Song dynasty sites in easier and less expensive to produce. The importance of
Hangzhou, Longquan, Shaoxing, Cangqian (Zhejiang), Tang production of this ware, however, which is some-
Chaozhou (Guangdong), Chongqing (Sichuan), and times categorized as porcelain, cannot be overstated.
Lijia zhuang (Hebei) have not been thoroughly analyzed Underglaze cobalt decoration was used during the
to ascertain their origin or when they were produced. At Yuan dynasty on celadon wares in faraway Yunnan
one of these sites, the Jinsha Stupa in Zhejiang’s province at the Yuxi kiln. This kiln, which was reportedly
Longquan county, thirteen blue and white porcelain frag- established by people from Jingdezhen, used locally
ments and an inscribed stele dating its construction as mined asbolite ores to mimic the form and decoration of
the “first year of the Xianchun reign” (1265) were recov- Jingdezhen wares, but the Yuxi kiln versions lack the
ered. Excavated in 1957, many now believe that this site quality of the original Jingdezhen ceramics. 178 Production
was disturbed and items of various periods have been began during the Yuan dynasty and continued into the
comingled there. More conclusive evidence comes from Ming. 179 The fact that Yunnan was a Muslim stronghold
a report on recent discoveries of a bowl in a tomb at Hu- during the Yuan dynasty may have played a role in the
jiabiao, Wushan city, Chongqing (2003); a covered jar Yuxi kiln’s use of cobalt ore, which the central Asians
found in Tomb 4, Cangqian township, Yuhang district, loved to use for decorating ceramics. Yunnan was the
Zheijiang (2004); and a pillow found at a site in the village birthplace of the Ming Muslim admiral Zheng He (ca.
of Lijiazhuang, Gaocheng county, Hebei province (2005). 1371–1435), sometimes referred to as the Chinese
The report indicates that these wares, which varied Christopher Columbus.
greatly in quality, were decorated with cobalt mined in It is particularly interesting that during two great peri-
Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, a conclusion reached ods of cultural exchange, the Tang and Yuan dynasties,
from the presence of manganese oxide in the glaze. 174 cobalt ore was used to produce underglaze painted wares.
In yet another example of how difficult it can be to date In both instances, the impetus seems to have come from
Chinese ceramics, in 1993 a blue and white pear-shaped non-Chinese patrons. At this time, there have been no
bottle (yuhuchun ping) produced at Jingdezhen and found finds of pre-Yuan underglaze cobalt decorated ware at
with Song dynasty coins was published as an example of Jingdezhen or any indication that this ware was produced
Song dynasty blue and white. 175 But this vessel is typical of there then. Current evidence indicates that large-scale
Yuan blue and white produced during the Wenzong and production of underglaze blue painted wares at
Shundi (1328–1332 and 1333–1368) reigns. Jingdezhen did not begin until the Yuan dynasty.
The early use of imported cobalt ore to decorate wares The Persian passion for ceramics decorated with blue
during the Tang dynasty and later during the Yuan dy- and the prevalence of Chinese ceramics in that region
nasty occurred during periods when international trade have led some scholars to believe that Yuan underglaze
was widespread. The pigment used on both Tang and blue porcelain was originally created for export, or at
Yuan wares is consistent with the composition of the ore least for a non-Chinese market. The belief that Muslims
from Persia (mined in mountainous areas, mainly in Iran provided the impetus for the creation of blue and white
south of Kashan), and it is believed that people dwelling porcelain may be supported by the fact that the greatest
there were patrons of both Tang and Yuan wares deco- Asian collections of high-quality Yuan ceramics are in
rated with underglaze blue. 176 The prominence of Iran and Turkey. The Yuan wares now in the Iran Bastan
lozenge and palmette motifs on ninth- and tenth-century Museum, Tehran, for example, were gifts made in 1611
blue and white earthen wares of both the Gong Xian by the Shah Abbas (r. 1587–1629) to the ancestral shrine
kilns in Henan province and of Abbasid Iraq has spurred at the ancient Ardebil Mosque as an act of piety (see Fig.
lively discussions about the nature of exchanges between 7.40). 180 The Yuan wares in the Topkapi Palace Museum,
potters in the two locations. At the same time there are located in Istanbul, are a part of a much larger collection
examples of wares decorated with blue that seem to have of Chinese ceramics of a wider range of dates, but with
been made for the domestic market and that do not look many of the Yuan works judged to be among its most
much like non-Chinese designs. 177 In any event, the Tang outstanding (Fig. 7.48). Surviving information about the

370 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics