CELADON

Celadon vase inlaid with cloud and crane design, c. 13th century. In the Kansong Art Museum, Chinese, Korean, Siamese, and Japanese stoneware decorated with glazes the colour range of which includes greens of various shades, olive, blue, and gray. The colours are the result of a wash of slip (liquefied clay) containing a high proportion of iron that is applied to the body before glazing. The iron interacts with the glaze during the firing and colours it. Celadons were prized in the Eastern world long before their comparatively late introduction to the West. A wide demand led to their export to India, Persia, and Egypt in the T'ang dynasty (618907) and to most of Asia in the Sung (9601279) and Ming (13681644) dynasties. The ware was popular because of its beauty, because of a superstition that a celadon dish would break or change colour if poisoned food were put into it, and because, to the Chinese, it resembled jade. Yeh ware, first made in the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220), is the earliest celadon; the glaze is olive or brownish green. The celadons of the Sung dynasty, which came from the kilns of Lung-ch'an, were the first to reach Europe in the 14th century. Surviving wares include large dishes, bowls, and large vases. The glaze, superb in quality, is a transparent green colour. It is thick and viscous, usually with a well-marked crackle. Decoration is usually incised, but molded ornament is also found. On some pots the molding was left unglazed, so that it burned to a dark reddish brownan effective contrast to the colour of the glaze. Most celadons attributable to the Ming dynasty have incised, under-the-glaze floral and foliate decoration. Celadon wine cup with stand, first half of the 12th century. In the National Museum of Korea, Korean celadons of the Koryo period (9181392) have a glaze that varies from bluish green to a putty colour. Many of the forms are lobed, based on the melon or the gourd. Perhaps the major divergence from the typical Chinese celadon is the inlaid decoration beneath the glaze of many specimens. In later examples, often referred to as mishima, the designs are first incised into the clay; the incisions are then filled with black-and-white slip. The inlaid patterns are diverse; but most of the subjects are floral, with an occasional bird. Isolated flowers with symmetrically radiating petals are also found, principally on boxes. During the early part of the Yi dynasty (13921910), the pattern was often impressed by stamps rather than incised freehand. Sgraffito decoration, in which patterns were incised through a grayish white slip, is also found. Siamese celadons, influenced by Chinese wares, had a translucent glaze, usually grayish green and often crackled, over a grayish white body. A common decoration consists of roughly scored vertical flutes, with incised circles at the shoulder to accentuate the form. Decoration of a more definite kind is always incised under the glaze and is usually floral. Covered bowls, dishes, ewers, and bottles with two small loop handles at the neck are common forms. In Japan the importation of Yeh ware and the respect for Korean celadon led during the Kamakura period (11921333) to imitative production near Seto (Aichi prefecture). The most important ware is known as Old Seto, a true celadon but often oxidized to what the Japanese call a dead leaf colour. Ritual vases, loop-handled jars, rice-wine vessels, ewers, and incense burners are among the Old Seto ware; glazes include black and olive green. During the 17th century (Edo period), fine examples of celadon were made at the famous Nabeshima kilns at Arita, Japan. In modern times, large-scale production of traditional celadon domestic wares has been undertaken at Bangkok; and ingenious copies of early ware have been made in the 20th century in China and Japan and at Seoul.