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Professor develops protocols to preserve ancient wares, will test technique in China

Ceramic pillow : Sung Dynasty : Wiki Commons

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A nationally renowned scholar on the preservation of ancient Chinese ceramics, Prof. Chandra Reedy is applying digital image analysis to study the technology used to produce glazed ceramics of nearly 1,000 years ago.

She has developed protocols for light microscopy in conservation research, publishing her most recent findings in Studies in Conservation, and she is now beginning a two-year project to combine her laboratory work in UD’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design with field work in China.

“Ceramics are an integral part of China’s national identity, and many ongoing efforts are aimed at understanding, supporting and even attempting to revive lost or disappearing traditional ceramic craft technologies,” she said.

Prof. Chandra Reedy’s digital image analysis reveals crystals in the glaze of an ancient Chinese ceramic piece. University of Delaware

Through a partnership among the University of Delaware, the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Sichuan Province Cultural Relics and Archeology Research Institute, Reedy will use light microscopy and digital image analysis to study the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), a period of great creativity and technological innovation.

The period is marked by state-of-the-art advances in the microstructure of ceramic bodies and glazes, processing and fabrication techniques, firing regimes and the resulting optical properties.

“By better understanding the technological variability, I hope to better understand the extent of that creativity and discovery, as well as the underlying knowledge and skills required to practice this technology,” said Reedy.

Her ultimate goal is to reconstruct the full range of technologies used to produce each of the Song Dynasty’s “Five Classic Wares,” the five main types of ceramics to emerge in this period.

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Reedy also hopes to examine the pace and extent of technological experimentation and change that occurred as well as to study how the ceramic’s aesthetic and functional aspects were affected by such technologic innovations.

Contributing Source : University of Delaware

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Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is a multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 8,000 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
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