Celadon: Appreciating Pottery for its Aesthetic Value and Magical Qualities

Celadon pottery (also known simply as ‘celadon’) is a type of ceramic that originated in ancient China. Celadon is well-known for its jade-like color, which it obtains due to the glaze that is applied to the surface of a piece of pottery. In the Chinese language, celadon is known as 青瓷 (transliterated as ‘qing ci’), which means ‘green porcelain’.

A popular explanation for the usage of the word ‘celadon’ in the West is that this word was derived from a 17th century French pastoral novel called L’Astrée. In this novel, written by Honoré d'Urfé, there is a character by the name of Céladon, who was depicted as a young man dressed in green.

The Origins of Celadon

The history of celadon itself predates d'Urfé by many centuries. According to one source, the production of celadon originated during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, i.e. at some point of time during the 10th century AD.

Chinese celadon with cut-out and engraved decoration, 10th century. (Public Domain)

Another source provides an earlier date, suggesting that this type of ceramic first appeared during the 7th century AD, either during the Sui or the Tang Dynasty. The celadon of this period was a development of the earlier Yueh ware that were produced during the Six Dynasties period, a collective term for six Chinese Dynasties beginning with the Three Kingdoms and ending with the Southern and Northern Dynasties.