ding

The Ding kilns situated at Jiancicun in Quyang County of Hebei was first discovered by a Japanese ceramics expert, Mr Fujio Koyama in 1941. During the Song Dynasty, this area came under the jurisdiction of Dingzhou. The chinese ceramics experts have carried out exploratory studies in early sixties. From the layers of shards, it was established that Ding Kilns started operation during the late Tang Period and ended in the thirteen century.

The most common product during the Tang Period was a yellow glaze ware with grayish, coarse body. The body is coated with a layer of white slip before application of the ash glaze. The kilns also produced white ware which is imitation of the celebrated Xing ware. To enable the greyish body to appear white, it is applied with a layer of white slip before being glazed.

Base of jar with word "guan"

By the Five Dynasty Period, the clay have become more refined and white. Hence, generally the body of the wares are not applied with a layer of slip. Excavations showed that Ding kilns started producing those famous transparent glassy ivory tone ware by the beginning of Northern Song Dynasty. To achieve the ivory tone, the ware must have been fired in oxidation atmosphere. (Recently, certain experiments were carried out by the chinese scientist showed that after the ivory tone shards are re-fired under reduction atmosphere, the tone of the glaze became a light bluish tone much like those of qingbai wares.). By early Northern Song Period, Ding ware was considered good enough to be selected as tribute gifts to the imperial court.

In fact, a number of shards found on the kiln sites were inscribed with the names of Song government institutions such as "Provision Bureau", "Medicine Bureau" , "Mansion of the Fifth Prince", "guan" & "xin guan".

Main features of Ding ware

very hard white body made from fine kaolin-type clay

glassy ivory tone glaze with very little crazing

yellow streaks commonly known as "tear drops". This is caused by the streaks of glaze which run down towards the foot after the ware is dipped in glaze.

the glaze on the rim of bowls and plates are scrapped of leaving an unglazed rim after firing. The unglaze rim is usually wrapped with metal band.

Tear drops on the base and glazed foot

Unglazed rim

Types of Ding Ware

During the early Northern Song Period, Ding kilns produced a bigger varieties of wares, such as ewers, vases, jars, incense burners and pillows. Some are decorated with elaborate relief carvings such as this kundika and jar. It shows the influence of decorative techniques of Yue Ware of Zhejiang.

By later early Northern Song Period (11th century), flatter and shallower vessels such as plate and bowls became the main production. The wares were curved and incised with motifs such as floral sprays, ducks in lily pond, dragons and twin-fish among waves. The curving and incising are elegant, fluent and spontaneous.

By Mid Song Period (early 12th century), molded designs were introduced. The use of mold open the way for more sophisticated and elaborate decorations, standardisation of the finished products and reduction of wastage. The molded lines are sharp, fluent and lively.

By late Northern Song, molding replaced curving to become the main decorative technique.

Samples of curved, incised and molded motifs can be viewed below:

Ding wares with curving and moulded motifs

Sherds of Ding wares in my collection

Other types of Ding Ware

There are also black and red Ding Ware. Both black and red colors were derived from glaze with iron oxide. Some have gold-leaf motif baked on at a low temperature.

Ding Ware's Innovative inverted firing Method

Ding bowls and plates are thin. If fire with the vessels facing up, the high temperature caused them to warp and crack. The potters discovered the method of firing the vessels upside down. To do so, it is necessary to scrap away the glaze on the rim so that they do not stick to the sagger. This method enables the spreading of the weight of the vessels over a wider area and solve the problem of warped vessels. It also takes up less space and enable a larger number of pieces to be fired as compared the method of stacking with the wares facing upward. This is clearly demonstrated in the below pictures.

Comparison of Genuine and new Ding Ware

Currently, on the market there are many fake Ding pieces in view of the high prices there command. As a guide, I have provided some observations and comparisons of new and old pieces which I hope could be of assistance to you in differentiating the new from the old.

N K Koh : 11 Aug 2000 (last update)

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