Chemical Compositions of Chinese Glazed Tiles from an Imperial Mausoleum of the Liao Dynasty

Abstract

Glazed tiles are characteristic architectural ceramics traditionally used in ancient Chinese royal buildings. Studies on their chemical compositions have provided valuable information regarding their compositional classifications and the provenances of their raw materials. Existing studies have mainly focused on the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 AD) or later. Research on earlier ages is limited because of a lack of samples. In this study, we used an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to analyze the chemical compositions of 18 glazed tiles unearthed from an imperial mausoleum (the Xinli site) from the Liao dynasty (969–982 AD). The glazes of the tiles had a SiO2–Al2O3–PbO ternary oxidic system and the bodies of the tiles had a SiO2–Al2O3 binary oxidic system. Certain compositional differences were observed among the samples with different types of decorations. Compared with samples from the Yuan dynasty and later periods, the Xinli samples had higher SiO2 and Al2O3 contents and lower PbO and CuO contents in the tile glazes. The tile bodies of the Xinli samples had compositions similar to those of tile bodies from the Qing dynasty (1616–1912 AD). We speculated that the Xinli samples with different decorations came from different kiln sites.