Raw Material Characteristics of the White Porcelain from Huangye Kiln by Multivariable Statistics Analysis

Abstract

Huangye kiln has rich culture connotation. It originated in the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the mid Tang Dynasty and declined in the late Tang Dynasty. To discuss whether the raw material sources and glaze formulations of the white porcelain from Huangye kiln are the same in different periods, 80 white porcelain samples from Huangye kiln in four periods, namely the Sui Dynasty, the early Tang Dynasty, the middle Tang Dynasty, and the late Tang Dynasty, were selected. The content of 9 chemical components (Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, K2O, CaO, TiO2, and Fe2O3) of the body and glaze of each sample was measured by proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE). Then the data were analyzed with Fisher discriminant analysis. The types of white porcelain glazes of Huangye kiln were classified by calculating the b value of the glazes. The results show that the bodies of the white porcelain from Huangye kiln in four periods may have been made of local raw materials taken from the same or nearby locations, that the glaze formulations in four periods are similar, and that the glaze formulation in the fourth period is the most stable and the most similar to that in the second period, but obviously different from that in the first period. They also show that most of the glazes of the white porcelain from Huangye kiln belong to the category of calcium glaze, and that a small quantity of glazes belongs to the categories of calcium-alkali glaze and alkali-calcium glaze.