ABSTRACT
Some moulds used for past ceramic production have been excavated, but the published examples are all moulds for vessels 1 (Donnelly 1969: Pl. 46A, left, and FPSM 1990: 111, Fig. 95). These moulds are made of refractory stoneware, and we can assume that the figure moulds would have been the same, even though there is no mention in the literature of any having been discovered (Xu Benzhang 1993). The scarcity of figure moulds in an archaeological context is not surprising, given the possibility that in Dehua the actual production of the figures may have taken place in home-based workshops at some distance from the kilns (Xu 1995: 19).
