Provenance Study of Famous Chinese Greenware Bodies Using Principal Component Analysis

Abstract

This work is based on published analytical data of 69 pieces of Chinese greenware bodies from seven famous wares: Yue, Longquan, Southern Song Guan, Ru, Jun, Yaozhou, and Ge. It is possible to do provenance studies of these wares by the application of principal component analysis using major and minor chemical constituents (SiO2, A12O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, K2O, Na20, and TiO2). The results show that not only are northern and southern greenwares completely distinct in the raw materials used, but in addition the southern greenwares are reasonably well segreated into groups belonging to Yue ware, Longquan ware (white body), Longquan ware (black body) and Southern Song Guan ware. Our analysis also confirms the production of Ge ware in the Longquan area. © - Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung