SUNG-TYPE POTTERY FINDS IN HONG KONG
147
Apart from general similarities in shape and style of potting, the bowls display a marked divergence in colour and quality of the glazes which range from a clear and very pale greyish green to an almost matt dark olive green. Crazing occurs with some of the glazes, usually the clear light coloured ones. Perhaps the most attractive of these glazes is one which is thick, unctuous and pale greyish green in colour and is found usually on bowls with flat unglazed bottoms and in one instance of a "turned-down" mouth rim of a vase. The styles of potting and decoration suggest similarities with certain wares of Chekiang.
GENERAL PROBLEMS OF DATING
In connection with the dating of these pieces, it must be pointed out that none of the finds have been recovered as a result of systematic and controlled excavation, and all attempts at dating have been made by the criteria of traditional classifications or by comparison with finds reported from kiln sites in China. The accuracy of the latter method is largely determined by the standard of the reports and the correctness of the dating of the kilns by the excavators. If the judgment of the excavators of the kilns is influenced by traditional concepts and classification, which is not only possible but likely in some cases, then the value of their reports is greatly reduced as references for dating pieces found away from the place of manufacture. There is as yet very little evidence to prove conclusively that pieces regarded as "Southern Sung" could not have been produced in the later decades of the 13th century and, conversely, that "Yuan" pieces were not in production before the 14th century.
The discovery of coins with pottery finds is very much of a mixed blessing. While coins do provide an upper limit for dating they are of comparatively little use in precise dating. The extensive and continued circulation of Sung coins into later periods of Chinese history, especially in Kwangtung, is the source of much argument in the archaeology of Kwangtung in the later historical periods. To quote a notorious example, in 1955 there appeared a report14 of a "Sung tomb" in Canton which produced several blue-and-white jars. The strongest evidence adduced by the excavators for giving the tomb a Sung date was that all the numerous coins found in the tomb were Northern Sung. It took nearly two years and a great deal of...
SUNG-TYPE POTTERY FINDS IN HONG KONG
147
Apart from general similarities in shape and style of potting, the bowls display a marked divergence in colour and quality of the glazes which range from a clear and very pale greyish green to an almost matt dark olive green, Crazing occurs with some of the glazes, usually the clear light coloured ones. Perhaps the most attractive of these glazes is one which is thick, unctuous and pale greyish green in colour and is found usually on bowls with flat unglazed bottoms and in one instance of a "turned- down" mouth rim of a vase. The styles of potting and decoration suggest similarities with certain wares of Chekiang.
GENERAL PROBLEMS OF DATING
In connection with the dating of these pieces, it must be pointed out that none of the finds have been recovered as a result of systematic and controlled excavation, and all attempts at dating have been made by the criteria of traditional classifica- tions or by comparison with finds reported from kilns sites in China. The accuracy of the latter method is largely determined by the standard of the reports and the correctness of the dating of the kilns by the excavators. If the judgment of the excavators of the kilns is influenced by traditional concepts and classification, which is not only possibly but likely in some cases, then the value of their reports is greatly reduced as references for dating pieces found away from the place of manufacture. There is as yet very little evidence to prove conclusively that pieces regarded as "Southern Sung" could not have been produced in the later decades of the 13th century and, conversely, that "Yuan" pieces were not in production before the 14th century.
The discovery of coins with pottery finds is very much of a mixed blessing. While coins do provide an upper limit for dating they are of comparatively little use in precise dating. The extensive and continued circulation of Sung coins into later periods of Chinese history, especially in Kwangtung, is the source of much argument in the archaeology of Kwangtung in the later historical periods. To quote a notorious example, in 1955 there appeared a report14 of a "Sung tomb" in Canton which produced several blue-and-white jars. The strongest evidence adduced by the excavators for giving the tomb a Sung date was that all the numerous coins found in the tomb were Northern Sung. It took nearly two years and a great deal of
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