Microstructure of Brownish and Blackish Color on Bizen Stoneware Fired in a Firewood Kiln and Reproduction of Brownish Color

Abstract

Bizen stoneware is produced by firing shaped green clay in a firewood kiln at around 1200°C. The brownish and blackish colors that appear on the stoneware surface in a firewood kiln do not appear on stoneware heated in an electric furnace. The brownish color was found to be caused by the formation of single crystalline, branched, dendritic, Al-substituted ε-Fe 2 O 3 particles. Composite particles consisting of Al-substituted ε-Fe 2 O 3 and Fe-substituted spinel solid solution also formed on the stoneware surface. In this study, we successfully prepared brownish samples that were similar in color to Bizen stoneware by annealing at 1200°C for 2 h in air after heating Bizen clay pellets with K 2 CO 3 at 1230°C under a 10 vol% CO and 90 vol% Ar gas mixture in an electric furnace instead of firing in a firewood kiln. Dendritic hematite particles also formed on the reproduced samples. The blackish color on Bizen stoneware fired in a firewood kiln was caused by the formation of augite [(Ca,Mg,Fe) 2 Si 2 O 6 ], which was produced by a reaction between the Bizen clay and firewood ash.