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 since the early sixties. From the layers of shards, it was established that Ding Kilns started operation during Tang and ended in Early Yuan dynasty.
The most common product during the Early Tang Period was an exterior yellow and interior white glaze ware with grayish, coarse body. The body is coated with a layer of white slip before application of the ash glaze. During the late Tang period, Ding kilns also produced white ware which was imitation of the celebrated Xing ware. The most typical vessel copied was the bowl with bi foot (玉壁底) (ie base with a hole at the centre) and mouth rim with a rolled lip. In the past, some of the better Ding bowls were wrongly identified as Xing. Both the glaze of Xing and Ding could be white or white with a tinge of green. This is the result of reduction firing in the kiln and with wood as the fuel. But there are still certain discernable differences that could be spotted. The paste on the base of the foot of Xing is smooth whereas that on the Ding usually has trimming marks. The glaze of Xing ware is smooth and less translucent than Ding. The glaze of Ding ware is usually uneven with traces of visible streaks, usually termed "tear drops". Interestingly, the streaks usually are only on one side of outer wall of the bowl. The glaze on the interior is usually smooth and even. Lastly, on Xing the outer base of the bowl is usually fully glaze whereas that on Ding may show certain unglaze patches. There are also those with partially glaze exterior wall.
During the 5 Dynasties, Ding bowls were usually made in the shape of flowers with 3, 4 or 5 petals, with last type being the most common. Most of the other vessels such as vases and pots are usually plain without decorative motif.
By Early Northern Song, Ding kilns were producing its distinctive type of wares and replaced Xing as the major producer of Northern white wares. Excavations showed that Ding kilns started producing those famous transparent glassy ivory tone ware by the beginning of Northern Song Dynasty. The ivory tone of the glaze was the result of firing in oxidation atmosphere. Coal had replaced wood as the fuel for firing. (Past experiments carried out by the Chinese scientist showed that after the ivory tone shards were re-fired under reduction atmosphere, the tone of the glaze became a light bluish tone much like those of qingbai wares.)
During the 5 Dynasty and Northern Song Period, Ding ware has achieved such a reputation that the wares were selected as local tribute gifts to the imperial court. Indication of the imperial connection were inscriptions (usually on the base) such as "guan (官)" & "xin guan (新官)" and the names of Northern Song imperial premises such as "(deshou (德寿)", "Medicine Bureau (尚药局)", "Jingyuan ( 禁苑)" and " Fenghua (奉华)". There were also those made for the local government institutions.
Types of Ding Ware
In the early Northern Song Period, Ding kilns produced a wider varieties of wares, such as ewers, vases, jars, incense burners and pillows. The favourite decorative motif was elaborate relief lotus carvings such that on this kundika and jar. Kundika was a popular vessel during the early Northern Song period. There were also some with the fine incised motif. All those decorative elements and techniques showed the strong influence of Yue Ware of Zhejiang. The curved floral motif with combed lines found in Mid Northern Song Yue wares were also adopted by the Xing potters.
During the early/mid Northern Song period, there were also some bowls fired using the hanging method. The outer rim which rested on the support in the sagger was not glazed.
By late Northern Song Period, carving /incising motifs became distinctively Ding. The carving and incising is fluent and spontaneous. Plates and bowls became the main production. Common motifs include floral sprays, ducks in lily pond, twin-fish among, infants, and etc.
Song Meiping with curved and combed floral motif in Beijing palace Museum
Song Ding Spittoon with curved floral motif in Beijing palace Museum
Song infant shaped pillow in Beijing palace Museum
But it was the molded motif first introduced during the Mid Northern Song period and reached immense popularity during the late Northern Song and Jin period that was usually associated with Ding wares. Usually the interior of the bowls and plates are densely decorated with molded motif. The outlines of the motif are sharp, fluent and lively. The represented the highest standard of molded motif achieved by ancient potters. It subsequently replaced curving/incising as the main decorative technique. The use of mold also opened the way for more sophisticated and elaborate decorations, standardisation of the finished products and reduction of wastage.
During the Jin Dynasty, molded motif continued to be in demand. Only a small number of carved motif continued to be made. The quality of the carving had dropped as compared with the earlier works. There are also rough type of bowls with a unglazed ring on the interior. The stacking method was used for producing such bowls and a common method employed by many other Northern kilns since the Jin period.
Ding's Innovative inverted firing Method
One of the most important contributions of the Ding potters was the invention of the inverted firing Method. It was subsequently adopted by many kilns including Jingdezhen.
The inherent problem of warping when firing the thin Ding bowls and plates in upright position prompted the potters to look for solution. The potters devised 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 saggar. This method enabled the spreading of the weight of the vessels over a wider area and solved the problem of warped vessels. An added advantage is that it increases production volume. The steps in the saggar enabled more pieces to be placed as compared the method of stacking with the wares facing upward.
Other rare types of Ding Ware
From the mid Northern Song onward, there were also black and brown/red Ding Wares. Both black and red colors were derived from glaze with iron oxide. Some have gold-leaf motif baked on at a low temperature. The Jin Ding potters also made small quantity of cizhou type wares with white/black or white/brown sgraffiato motif .
Main features of Ding ware
To summarise, the typical late Northern Song/Jin Ding ware possesses the following characteristics:
Copyright: N K Koh (25 Mar 2008)
