Microstructure Characterization and Mineral Morphology of Tea-Dust Glaze Made in the Ding Kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty

The tea-dust glaze ancient porcelain is one of the earliest crystalline glazes, which is rarely studied deeply because of its rarity. In this study, the mineral crystals in tea-dust glaze made in the Ding Kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty were analyzed by optical microscope (OM), laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy coupled with an X-ray energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), laser confocal Raman spectrometer (LRS), and high-resolution time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The results show that the main crystal phase in the glaze is the same as that of the Longquanwu Kiln in the Liao and Jin Dynasty, which is anorthite and augite. The overall performance of the glaze is that the sauce-black glaze matrix is rich in iron (Fe₂O₃ mean 9.73%) and the mineral crystal is rich in iron (Fe₂O₃ mean 11.33%). In addition to α-Fe₂O₃ crystals, Fe₃O₄ crystals and other recrystallized minerals after melting, the glaze also has pleonaste, residual kaolinite and other unmelted minerals from raw glaze materials. The residual kaolinite shows that the firing temperature of the samples in this study was most likely below 1200℃. The BRIEF REPORT is available for this paper at http://www.ykcs.ac.cn/en/article/doi/10.15898/j.ykcs.202401290011.