Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T09:49:40.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Provenance Study through Analysis of Microstructural Characteristics Using an Optical Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscopy for Goryeo Celadon Excavated from the Seabed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2013

Han Min-su*
Affiliation:
Conservation Science Division, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 132 Munji-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-380, Republic of Korea
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This paper aims at identifying the provenance of Goryeo celadons by understanding its microstructural characteristics, such as particles, blisters, forms and amount of pores, and the presence of crystal formation, bodies, and glazes and its boundary, using an optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis of the reproduced samples shows that the glazed layer of the sherd fired at higher temperatures has lower viscosity and therefore it encourages the blisters to be combined together and the layer to become more transparent. In addition, the result showed that the vitrification and melting process of clay minerals such as feldspars and quartzs on the bodies was accelerated for those samples. To factor such characteristics of the microstructure and apply it to the sherds, the samples could be divided into six categories based on status, such as small particles with many small pores or mainly large and small circular pores in the bodies, only a limited number of varied sized blisters in the glazes, and a few blisters and needle-shaped crystals on the boundary surface. In conclusion, the analysis of the microstructural characteristics using an optical microscope and SEM have proven to be useful as a categorizing reference factor in a provenance study on Goryeo celadons.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dickinson, W.R. (1982). Temper sands from prehistory sherds excavated at Pemrang site on Yap and from nearby Ngulu Atoll. Bull Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 3, 115117.10.7152/bippa.v3i0.11196Google Scholar
Kang, K.S. (1989). Korean Ceramic History. Seoul, Korea: Iljisa.Google Scholar
Lee, Y.E. (1998). Compositional and Microstructural Study of Choson Punchong. Seoul, Korea: Chung-Ang University.Google Scholar
Lee, Y.E. & Koh, K.S. (2002). A microstructural study on firing process of Korean traditional ceramics; Punch'ong from Ch'unghyodong, Kwangju. J Kor Chem Soc 46, 32133.Google Scholar
Lee, Y.S. (2001). Analytical and Statistical Study on the Raw Materials of Korean Traditional Ceramics. Seoul, Korea: Chung-Ang University.Google Scholar
Newman, R. (1991). The composition and microstructural study of Korean celadon glaze of the 11th to 15th centuries. In Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology II, Vandiver, P.B., Druzik, J. & Segan, G. (Eds.), pp. 423434. Pittsburgh, PA: Materials Research Society.Google Scholar
Vandiver, P.B. (1991). The technology of Korean celadons. In The Resistance of Jade and the Clarity of Water-Korean Ceramics from Ataka Collection, Itoh, I. & Mino, Y. (Eds.), pp. 151158. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago and Hudson Hills Press.Google Scholar
Vandiver, P.B., Cort, L.A. & Handweker, C.A. (1989). Variations in the practice of ceramic technology in different culture: A comparison of Korean and Chinese celadon glazes. In Cross-Craft and Cross-Cultural Interactions in Ceramics, Notis, M.D. (Ed.), pp. 347388. Westerville, OH: American Ceramics Society.Google Scholar
Yun, Y.I. (1994). Studies in Korean Ceramics History. Seoul, Korea: Munyech'ulpansa.Google Scholar