Page 139 - Index Pottery of Dvaravati Period - Professor Emerita Dr.Phasook Indrawooth

Summary | 124

And the clay is colored principally by impurities, the chief classes of which are iron

compounds and carbonaceous matters. The common iron compounds are converted
to oxides in firing if they are not already in that state and they become a permanent

colorant of the pottery (red color). Therefore, the amount and distribution of iron

oxide, together with characteristics of the clay, determine primarily whether a clay will
be white, buff, or red when it is fired to a condition of full oxidation. Carbonaceous

matter colors pottery (gray or black) only when there is insufficient oxidation. When
there is adequate oxygen in firing, carbonaceous matter is decomposed and driven off

as carbon dioxide gas. Therefore, the different colors of Dvaravati pottery (red, reddish

brown, gray, black) are mostly effected by the impurities of clay (iron compounds and
carbonacecus matters) and incomplete oxidation.

In examining the interior and exterior surfaces of Dvaravati sherds and of freshly
fractured cross sections through body walls by a hand lens or a low power binocular

microscope, to learn about the surface striations and textural variations, it is noticed

that the well levigated clay was used for the fine wares (wares for special occasions)
while large storage jars and the coarser, thicker domestic wares tended to contain

more grains; i.e. sand, shell, straw or other materials, for they give structural strength

to the plastic vessel as it is shaped and help prevent excessive cracking during drying.
Typological study of Dvaravati pottery has revealed a fact that various types

were introduced by Indian people. The most prominent ones to be recognized are
spouted (spouted pots and spouted bowls used as lamps). Two types of spouted pots

(kendis) have been excavated from various Dvaravati sites, the first type is distinguished

by flared mouth vessel with a cylindrical spout on its shoulder (pls.รูปที่ 38, รูปที่ 39,
รูปที่ 40 - รูปที่ 45 fig 10) while the second type is usually described as a flat based

elliptical jar with a high, narrow neck having a small perforation and a vertical spout at
the shoulder the so-called sprinkler (pls.รูปที่ 46, fig.ลายเส้นที่ 16 No.9)

The first type (pls.รูปที่ 38, รูปที่ 39, รูปที่ 40 -รูปที่ 4527, fig.ลายเส้นที่ 16), the

flared mouth spouted pots, have been reported from the Neolithic sites in India
datable to 2,000 B.C. and they have been found from various archaeological sites in

different parts of India mostly in the western part during the Gupta and post Gupta

th
period (between 5 - 8 century A.D.). However, some older examples of spouted
th
vessels have also been discovered in the Middle East and in Greece. The ones from
Mesopotamia are dated to 3,200 B.C., while the ones from Greece are dated to 2,500

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