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Celadon wares: the old and the new
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By Damien Pfirsch
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Though it was first discovered in China and called "qingci,"which means greenish porcelain, the Western term "Celadon" has afew possible origins. One is the character of a sheppard whowore a light green cloak in Honore d'Urfe's 1610 play, L'Astree.Another holds that celadon is the amalgamation of two Sanskritwords, "sila" and "dhara" which mean stone and greenrespectively. However the most common theory is that it is asimplified version of salah-ed-din (Saladin), the sultan ofEgypt, who sent forty pieces of this ware to the sultan ofDamascus in 1171.
A type of porcelain, modern celadon products are usually madein the light greens and blues even though celadon colors canrange from jade to white.
Indeed, the latest archeological evidence suggests celadon wasfirst fired in its white form in China at least 1,000 years ago,if not more. Though it was previously believed celadon made itsfirst appearance in the Song Dynasty (930-1280), a January 2003excavation of a kiln in China's Anhui province dating to theFive Dynasties period (907-960) uncovered several hundred piecesof white celadon.
But today and throughout most of history, celadon has beenknown for its beautiful greens and blues. Its glaze comes from amixture of several natural materials and is fired in a gas kilnat at least 1280 degrees Celsius for 10 hours. Celadon'scharacteristic cracks are caused by the contraction of the bodyof the celadon product under the glaze during the firingprocess. They give celadon products an air of class andantiquity even when they are brand new.
Celadon was brought back to Thailand from Burma around 100years ago by the Shan people who migrated at the time. With therapid decline of Chinese celadon after 1912, a market for theThai brand opened and slowly the Thai and Shan potters rose tomeet those needs. Since then, the industry has prospered withChiang Mai as its center and today there are many small, and afew large manufacturers of Thai celadon which is mainly glazedin the popular shades of green.
New breakthroughs in the technical process of firing celadonnow offer many new contemporary colors. Modern Asian designershave skillfully blended the new designs with the centuries-oldcraft traditions to create breathtaking celadon wares which arenow available to art enthusiasts around the world.
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