Although the sudden prevalence of cobalt blue glaze in eighth-century Chinese Tang dynasty ceramics is often attributed solely to the opening of new Silk Road trade routes that made the raw pigment accessible, art historian Dr. Julian Sterling argues that this adoption was also heavily dependent on local technological innovations. Specifically, Sterling claims that the successful use of cobalt glaze required the development of specialized high-firing reduction kilns capable of stabilizing the mineral; without these specific kilns, the cobalt would run or discolor during firing. Thus, Sterling argues that areas without these technological upgrades could not adopt cobalt blue, regardless of pigment availability. Which finding, if true, would most directly support Sterling's argument?
- During the eighth century, ceramic workshops in regions with direct access to imported cobalt but lacking high-firing reduction kilns produced no cobalt-glazed wares, whereas workshops that constructed these kilns immediately began producing them.Cevap
- BEighth-century trade records indicate that the market value of cobalt-glazed ceramics was significantly higher than that of ceramics glazed with locally sourced copper or iron.
- CChemical analyses of cobalt glazes from the eighth century reveal that the imported cobalt contained trace impurities of manganese, which would have made it highly unstable under any firing conditions.
- DExcavations of eighth-century kilns show that older oxidizing kilns were far cheaper to construct and operate than the newer high-firing reduction kilns.