Written by Jennifer J. Lau
Curated by the Fête Chinoise Team

History & Science of Celadon

Many readers may associate the celadon ceramic arts with Chinese culture. The long history of Chinese ceramics began in the Upper Paleolithic period, which is about 40,000 years ago! Although the Korean mastery of celadon pieces is commonly known — especially when we see many premodern Korean pieces in museums today — it is important to note that the production was premised on the “Chinese Yue wares” or Southern Chinese pieces [1]. 

But where did the term “celadon” come from? The English word for “celadon” comes from a 17th-century French play. It was based on the novel L’Astrée by Honoré d’Urfé (1568-1625) in which one of the characters is named Celadon. Subsequently, it became associated with the ceramics.

And celadon is not a singular colour but a complex range of colours. According to scholar Rose Kerr, celadon can point to a colour ranging from “light green through bluish-green to greyish-green and even brownish-green” [2]. Ceramics-aficionado, Derek Au, also sees the range of colours that are considered as “celadon” as well. Au lists a few in Chinese with their English translation: 天青 (sky blue with a small < .2% addition of cobalt); 豆青 (“bean” celadon pure green iron celadon); 影青 (“shadow” lake-green); 粉青，玉青 (jade celadon); 冬青 (winter green); and 鸭蛋青 (bright duck-egg green) [3]. Many researchers agree that the local materials and culture had a huge impact on the resulting aesthetic production and global circulation. Lastly, olive-green can also be considered part of the celadon family.

We’ve curated 10 items below which may be of interest to those who adore the premodern Chinese ceramic tradition and appreciate the beauty of celadon glazes.

Our curated Celadon-inspired gifts:

Works Cited:

1. Nigel Wood, Chinese Glazes: Their Origins, Chemistry, and Recreation. Philadelphia: U of Penn State UP, 2001. 38.

2. Rose Kerr, “Luminous Colours of Celadon: The Ceramics of Yaozhou” Arts of Asia 49:4 (Jul/Aug 2019): 69.

3. Derek Au, “Colors of Celadon: Iron and Titania” <http://derekau.net/2016/08/16/colors-of-celadon-iron-and-titania/> Retrieved Dec 16, 2019.

For further reading, please see Stacey Pierson’s “The Movement of Chinese Ceramics: Appropriation in Global History” Journal of World History 23.1 (March 2012): 9-39.

We hope you enjoy the gift guide with a piece of history on Chinese material culture!