JU WARE

Pinyin Ru, the most highly prized of all Chinese ceramics. Ju wares were produced exclusively for the aesthete Northern Sung emperor Hui-tsung in the few years from about 1107 to his political demise in 1127. No more than 60 intact pieces were known before the discovery in 1986 of the original kiln site, which is at the village of Ch'ing-liang-ssu, in Pao-feng county, Honan province, a site that has yielded at least 37 more examples. It is unclear whether Ju wares were also produced at nearby sites, such as Ju-chou (now Lin-ju). The undecorated bluish- or greenish-gray glaze of Ju wares is cloudy and opaque, often with a slight lavender tinge and fine irregular crackle. This glaze typically covers a gray stoneware body that has a simple, exquisitely elegant shape.