Celadon

Celadon is a European name for pottery glazed in a jade green color and for the transparent, often finely crackled glaze that produces it, a ceramic tradition that began in China at kilns such as Longquan in Zhejiang province before spreading to Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The color comes from firing a glaze containing a small amount of iron oxide, between about 0.75 and 2.5 percent, at high temperature in a reducing kiln, a chemical transformation that is easily thrown off by too much or too little iron. Chinese imperial courts prized celadon for generations, in part because its jade green color echoed jade itself, the most highly valued material in Chinese culture, before taste shifted toward painted blue and white porcelain under the Yuan dynasty.