Ge Yao (Ge kiln) was not mentioned in any Song/Yuan period written sources.   Information related to it was basically formed during the Ming period.   In the written work《宣德鼎彝谱》, Ge was listed as one of the 6 celebrated ceramic wares in the Ming Palace collection.  According to an account by Wen Peng (文彭), son of famous Ming painter Wen Zheng Ming (文徵明)， the book was said to be presented to the Ming court during the reign of Xuande by a court official  Lu Zhen (吕震). However, a copy of it was only published for public circulation sometime around 1534 A.D during Jiajing period.  

Southern Song Ge wares from the Beijing Palace Museum

Two Ming written works were often quoted in discussions on the origin of Ge ware.  The earlier work《春风堂随笔》by Lu Tan (陆探) in essence mentioned that during the Song period, there were two Zhang (章) surname brothers who produced celadon wares in Chuzhou (处州), ie the ancient name for Longquan.  The younger brother (第) produced the white paste wares and the elder brother (哥) produced the black paste crackled glaze wares.  As in Chinese Ge refers to elder brother, the ware he produced was termed Ge Yao (哥窑).  But a later written work《遵生八笺》by Gao Lian (高濂 ) published in 1591 A.D during the reign of Wanli gave a different take on it.  He mentioned that there were much similarity between Guan and Ge ware (官哥不分). The kilns that produced them were both located in Hangzhou Pheonix mountain area.  Guan ware was produced for the palace by a government organisation Xiunei Si (修内司).  Ge ware was produced by private kiln operator.

More recently, a narration in the Yuan text《至正直记》by Kong Qi (孔齐) is highlighted as offering the clue to solve the origin of the name Ge.  In the year 1363 A.D. , the author encountered someone who bought a censer produced in a kiln known as Ge Ge Dong (哥哥洞) which was located  in Hangzhou .  A friend Wang De Weng (王德翁) commented that it was very similar and difficulty to distingush from Guan ware of the past.  It is suggested that Ge Yao (哥窑) was a subsequent abbreviation of Ge Ge Dong (哥哥洞).  

Ge ware is noted for its two distinctive network of crackles, termed golden thread and iron wire (金丝铁线):  a prominent set of darkish crackles interspersed with those that are fine and lighter in tone.  But it should be noted that there are exceptions. There is a group which displays just the network of darkish crackles.  Examinations by Chinese ceramics experts showed that on most Ge pieces, there are clear signs that the crackles were artificially stained to accentuate the golden thread and iron wire effect.  Ge glaze has a range of colour tone, mainly rice yellow or grayish blue.   Like Guan ware, a Ge vessel is applied with multiple coatings of glaze. 

Two examples, first showing that networks of large and small crackles and the second just large crackles

Magnified 40 times view of the crackles

Magnified 100 times view of pooling of bubbles in the glaze.  The bubbles refracted the light and give the glaze the soft jade like look

Chinese archaeologists have carried out extensive surveys and  excavations in Longquan to locate  Ge kiln.  So far, two kiln sites which produced black paste ware with crackled glaze have been found.  They are in Xikou (溪口) and Xiaomei town (小梅镇).  Generally the glaze is a grayish green colour tone and differs from the typical Ge ware. Furthermore,  they are not found in the Beijing Palace collection.  To avoid confusion in future discussions, the Chinese Academic circle refers to them as  Longquan Ge and extant Ge ware  (传世哥窑) respectively.

Shards from Xikou kiln

Sherds from Xiaomei kiln (小梅窑)

Yuan Ge Examples from Hangzhou Laohu Dong (Tiger Cave) kilns

In the past some vessels with Ge glaze characteristics have been found in graves and hoards in China.  They show very similar characteristics to those sherds found in the Yuan layer of the Laohu Dong kiln.

Ge Dishes from the grave of Wang Xing Zu, a founding general of the Ming Dynasty.  There is no consensus to the dating,  varying  from Southern Song to Yuan

Two Ge examples from a Ren surname grave in Shanghai Qingpu county

Beijing Palace Museum has also carried out a series of scientific tests to analyse the chemical composition of the paste and glaze of samples from Laohu Dong, extant Ge, Longquan Xikou and Xiaomei and also Jingdezhen Ming/Qing Ge type.  The results show that the paste and glaze composition of extant Ge samples fall within the cluster of Laohu Dong samples. For the other samples, they form separate distinct clusters.

From the chart based on analysis of the glaze chemical composition conducted by Beijing Palace Museum, the samples from Laohu Dong and Extant Ge fall within the same circled cluster

To conclude, Longquan Ge mentioned in Lu Tan 《春风堂随笔》is not the extant Ge ware in the Palace collection.  Guan and extant Ge ware are related and shared the same root.  Gao Lian who held the differing view turned out to be on the right track afterall.

Since the Ming Period, ceramics with Ge glaze were widely copied and produced by kilns in various regions in China, such as Jiangxi Jingdezhen, Fujian Zhangzhou, Jiangsu Yixing and Guangdong Shiwan.

Ming Xuande Ge glaze bowl (Beijing Palace Museum)

Qing Yongzheng Ge type vase (Beijing Palace Museum)

Qing Yongzheng Ge type vase (Beijing Palace Museum)

Qing Yixing Ge glaze Ding vessel

Top Ming Chenghua Ge bowl, bottom Qing Shiwan Ge Glaze vase with applique chi dragon

Written by : NK Koh (2 Feb 2021)