Analysis of a Mammillated Lead‐Barium Glazed Pottery Ornament on the Pommel of a Yue‐Style Bronze Sword With Bird Script

ABSTRACT

In China, bronze swords from the Wu and Yue regions of the Warring States period were renowned far and wide. Their pommels were often decorated with concentric rings, jade, turquoise, and other ornaments. In 2014, a bird‐script Yue‐style bronze sword was unearthed from Tomb M675, Phase III of the Jinding site in Linzi, Shandong. Analytical results indicated that this bronze sword pommel is centrally inlaid with a mammillated lead‐barium glazed pottery bead that was likely produced independently and subsequently set into the pommel. The bead's body is composed primarily of quartz, potassium feldspar, and iron‐bearing clay. The glaze is composed of Chinese Blue dispersed in lead‐barium glass and also contains a small amount of unmelted quartz particles. Within the glassy phase of the glaze, lead (Pb) and barium (Ba) levels are high, with a small amount of potassium (K) detected and no sodium (Na) present, characterizing it as part of the Pb‐Ba system. At the body‐glaze interface, celsian (barium feldspar) formed from the migration and deposition of Ba ²⁺ ions during firing; together with the abundant unmelted crystalline particles preserved in the body and glaze, this microstructure is consistent with a relatively low firing temperature for the bead, probably below 900°C. This study represents the first discovery of a lead‐barium glazed pottery ornament on a Wu–Yue bronze sword, and one that employs Chinese Blue as a colorant. Its composition, craftsmanship, and form provide new scientific information for the study of Wu–Yue bronze swords, reflecting the broad range of decorative applications for artificially synthesized lead‐barium glazed pottery beads during the Warring States period.