Microstructural analysis of the color-generating mechanism in Ru ware, modern copies and its differentiation with Jun ware

Ru ware and Jun ware belong to the five most famous porcelains of the Song dynasty (AD 960-AD 1276), China. Their relationship is one of the focuses of research in ancient ceramic circle. In this article, some shards of Ru ware, its modern copies and Jun ware were analyzed by using SEM, UV-VIS spectrometer. Under SEM, Ru ware has different micromorphological structure to Jun ware, and Ru modern copies are more similar to Jun ware. These differences could explain the reflectance spectrum difference between Ru modern copies, Jun ware and Ru ware. So the UV-VIS method has the potential to answer Ru-Jun confusion problem and be a reference in nondestructive authentication of Ru ware. Special optical phenomena may illuminate that the glaze color of Ru ware is the combined result of physical and chemical effects. However, more determinate conclusions need more samples.