The white porcelains from Dehua kiln site of China: Part I. Chemical compositions and the evolution regularity

Dehua county in Fujian province of China has a long history of white porcelain production from the Song to Qing Dynasties. The development and flourish of Dehua porcelain has always been closely related to the export trade. In this part of the study, white porcelain samples of the Song to Qing Dynasties excavated from Wanpinglun, Qudougong, Zulonggong, Jiabeishan and Xingjiao kiln sites were analyzed to investigate chemical compositions of body and glaze and the evolution regularity in the course of time. The study demonstrates that the composition of Dehua body has similar evolution regularity through the Song to Qing Dynasties with Dehua glaze, and the samples of the Ming Dynasty have extraordinary high K2O both in bodies and glazes.