Iron armatures in Chinese ceramics

For the recent reinstallation of the Chinese Galleries at The
Brooklyn Museum, I treated a tomb model of a Horse and Rider.  The
object was dated to the Northern Wei Dynasty and subsequent
thermoluminescence testing confirmed that this date was consistent.
An iron armature has been fired into the ceramic at the horse's
front and back legs.  The armature is completely mineralized and has
caused the ceramic to break at both legs.  Has anyone seen this
before on a Chinese tomb object?  Is there any available information
on this technology?

Thanks.
Lisa Bruno
Conservation Department
The Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-638-5000 ext. 276

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:49
                Distributed: Thursday, November 21, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-49-014
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