The old Mon sites reveal a pottery tradition related to those of the Pyus of Central Burma whose rouletted pots dating between the 1st and 7th centuries are well known. Burmese archaeologists trace the techniques to Arikamedu in East India. It is possible that the technique of glazing was introduced into Burma during that period. Chinese accounts mention of the glazed tile walls of the capital of the Pyus.

Twante in southern Burma seems to be already an important pottery centre in the Mon period. After the conquest of the Mons in 1057AD the Burmans seem to have taken over their pottery techniques. Mon pottery from Twante appears at Pagan in archaeological excavations and Burmese archaeologists also believe that glazing techniques came from the south. Many of the temples and Pagodas at Pagan are decorated with glazed earthenware tiles in varying shades of green and blue-green, white and yellow-brown. These are Jataka tiles which are Buddhist “birth tiles” depicting the various birth stories of the Buddha. Glazed carved stone-tiles were also found. A common Burmese motif seems to be the lotus flower which is found in stone-tiles as well as decorating Burmese ceramics.

 

According to Dr. Pamela Gutman pottery types are depicted in frescoes and relief sculpture of the temples. The most informative might be the Nagavon temple built in the 11th century. Some of the jars are remarkably similar to the “Hindu Javanese” or Kwantung-type jars of the 8th-10th centuries shown in the book Ternpayan-Martavan. The jars are broad based but some have rounded bases. Most are sealed probably with cloth or pigs-bladder covers which are attached to lugs between a half and three-quarters the height of the jars. From the plaques around the base of the Ananda temple built around 1160 AD the names and functions of various types of jars are known. Three main types are named: the Tron, a storage vessel which is more rectangular than Tumbay the ordinary pot. The Tumbay is a small round pot with a narrow neck. The third type is the Klas which is the kalasa type known at Angkor and in Central Java. It is much larger than the Tumbav and rather more ovoid in shape. A series of Klas are depicted filled with foliage recalling the traditional Indian symbol of Purnakalasa the “Vase of Plenty”.

In the historical Museum of Pagan are several types of earthenware jars found during excavations in 11th to 12th century sites near the temples. Three are glazed and one is unglazed. ‘the unglazed jar is about fifty cm high, ovoid with a rounded base, relatively narrow neck and a flared mouth, the lip unfortunately is broken. Unglazed red burnished earthenware kendis are also found. Two are elegantly-shaped with long thin spouts and the third is a bottle-jar shape with a cup-shaped mouth.

The glazed jars consist of three types. One type is of a similar shape to the unglazed jar, pear-shaped with a tall flaring neck and everted lip but with a flat base. It is covered with a dripped olive green glaze. The second jar has a round bulbous body, a shorter and straight neck and everted lip and has a degraded white glaze. The third jar is very interesting as similar types are found in Indonesia. It is 69 cm tall with a small foot, narrow thickened mouth, incised bands at the neck and three horizontal grooved loop-handles (one is broken). It is covered by a degraded black glaze until the lower body which is reddish burnt. This might be the type of jar described as the “Vase of Plenty” (see above). This shape is also a typical Chinese shape from the Song dynasty (960-1279).

 

Chinese ceramic shapes might have influenced Burmese ceramics at that time. According to Mr U Bo Kay, the former Museum director and present consultant, many Chinese ceramics have been found at the site, he has shown us a Chekiang celadon jarlet from the late Song-Yuan period. Many identical black jars in various sizes and green and white sherds have been found in excavations. Indeed the site near the Temples which are dated to the 1lth-13th century are littered with green, olive green, white and black glazed earthenware sherds as well as Chinese sherds and unglazed pottery. The pottery sherds are identical to the temple tiles and the jars in the Pagan Museum. We have to thank Mr U Bo Kay who gave us some samples found at the site. Among the sherds are also a piece of a Yuan celadon bowl from the Putian kilns in Fujian, South China and a piece of celadon from the Kalong kilns of North Thailand.

Glazed ceramic sherds are especially found in abundance at Otaintaung (“Potters Hill”) about 550 meters east of the Sulamani temple and around Myingaba village. We were not able to visit the site but will quote from an unpublished Burmese report by the Burma Historical Commission (Pamela Gutman, opcit). It mentions the ruins of a beehive-shaped kiln for glost firing near Myingaba village. The report investigated the glazing of bricks, tiles, votive tables and sandstone plaques. The glaze used was of a matte opaque type, based on lead and coloured by copper, tin and vanadium oxides. There are two colours, green and yellow. The green colour varied from faintly green, bluish green to bright green, the different shades being obtained by varying the quantities of tin and copper oxides. All the materials for making the glaze and the colouring oxides are available locally. The temperature employed is estimated to vary from 900 to 1,050 C. It is further said that the glazed surfaces appeared to be of strong texture and possessed a high degree of fitness with the clay body in spite of the crazing effect noticed in almost all the glazed surfaces. From this report and as is evident from the excavated ceramic jars and sherds Burmese ceramics have to be classified as earthenware.

Another interesting find of Burmese ceramics datable to the 14th-16th century, was in Tak province in Thailand near the Burmese border in July 1984. The Burmese ceramics were found together with Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai wares. In the report "The Tak Hilltop Burials" by The Ceramics Research Project of the Chiang Mai University they were mentioned as unidentifiable. But after John Shaw from the Chiang Mai University on a visit to Jakarta saw the white and green Burmese sherds from Pagan in January this year, he was convinced that they are identical to the green and white glazed wares from Tak. As mentioned above Tak and Mesot (Mae Sot) are on the ancient overland route which connects Martaban and Sawankhalok since the 14th centurv. The finds of Burmese ceramics in that area is therefore not impossible.

Where would the kilns be situated in Burma? Most probably in the Southern part - Pagan was subjugated by the Mongols in 1287 AD and the Pagan court fled to Tala ("Twante"). It is noted in historical sources that Queen Acaw ordered the Cakyap potters of the Tala circle to supply pots (Pamela Gutman, opcit). If not earlier known in the South, at that time the technique of producing green and white tin glazed ceramics could have been  introduced. Another likely area would be Papun ("Hpapun") in the Karen State which is well known for its green ware and is considered to be the best pottery centre in Burma (The information was received from Mr Saosei Long Mengrai. We met Mr Mengrai when he was in Jakarta on a visit through the courtesy of Mr Bernard F D’Ambro­sio, counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. It was also mentioned by J G Scott 1921, 278).

In the month of January 1984 many large black jars (~ 1 meter high), medium sized (~ 55 cm) and small jars (~ 30 cm), which are usually called Thai-type jars, were found in antique shops in Jakarta or peddled by Jakarta antique dealers. They were reported to be heirlooms from Aceh in North Sumatra and the local people believed that they date from the Aceh Kingdom (l6th-19th century) or earlier. The small jars must have been used as oil containers, they smell nearly all of coconut oil.

It was the first time that we found Jars of this type with a green and white feldspathic glaze. They share the same characteristics as the black ones: a heavy earthenware body which can burn a bright terracotta red or a purplish colour, plain or with slightly grooved loop-handles, incised bands at the neck, the glaze often dripped reaching only till the lower body, and many decorated with a yellow slip. The bases are flat, and the joint at the centre body of large jars is clearly visible. The glazes are black to dark brown with varying shades of reddish brown and yellow brown. In the book Tempayan Martavans they were grouped under Thailand as Thai-type jars.  However as the Pagan jar and the recent products of Burma showed identical characteristics, we believe that they are Burmese Jars and belong to the real “Martaban” or “Pegu” jars. Some styles of decoration are still being produced. The jars with a slip surface and a roulette-type design do not fall within this group, but they are most probably Burmese. A pipe with the same clay body and similar decoration was found in Mandalay, and according to the local people they come from a kiln in the Mandalay area where they also produce jars.