Chinese Celadon Vases

Before the Chinese discovered the "qinghua" method of creating vases, celadon vases were the preferred method. Their height of popularity was between 907 and 1127 A.D. While there are a variety of colors that can be produced with celadon glaze, the most popular during that period were pale and dark green.

In Northern China, celadon vases were characterized by an olive-green color, hand-painted decorations, impressions, or hand-carved designs. Further south, the Longquan were able to develop a translucent green color that was compared to jade, which became much more revered. Longquan became the most important celadon producing region.

Unlike many other ceramic styles in China’s history, celadon vases are typically minimal. They tend to have little if any embellishments on the greenish surface of the vases. Instead, the thin, translucent, jade-like color and quality take precedence.

Quick Facts

• The name Celadon is actually from the character named “Celadon” in the French stage production, "L’Astre." When these greenish vases made their debut in Paris, they were called Celadon in reference to the green clothes of the stage character
• The greenish color of celadon vases are created from an iron-oxide glaze
• Though grand scale productions of celadon glaze vases did not occur until the 10th century, evidence of celadon glaze techniques have been dated back to the first and second centuries A.D.