Musings: from the Garden of Greens and Blues

To achieve this degree and control of melt depended on a sophisticated understanding and control of fire.

As a potter, I find myself conscious of legacy: having an understanding of what has gone before us is not only fascinating but can inform our own practice. In my early potting days I developed a particular fondness for the type of glaze known as Celadon, and was fortunate enough to be able to examine and handle many old Chinese pieces, and use more modern examples. It was the particular qualities of those old glazes that captured me…the soft, luminous sheen, a semi opaque depth created by a myriad of tiny bubbles, the cool hues of blues and greens, and above all, a quietness…

The most plausible view concerning the origins of our use of the term Celadon (in the West) is that it dates back to the arrival of Chinese ceramics into Europe in the mid 17th Century. This period of growing Orientalism saw large consignments of pottery that included green glazed wares, as well as blue-and-white, arriving in Paris. In attempting to describe these new greenwares, writers turned to popular culture. The most well known literary work of the time was a novel by Honore d’Urfe, , first published in 1607. The story was a ‘romantic pastoral’ whose two principal characters were the shepherd and shepherdess, Celadon and L’Astree. As thwarted lovers, their discourses on love and morality were well read, and by the end of the century a commedia dell’arte theatrical production was popular. Celadon strode the stage dressed in a long jade green coloured cape: so, in describing these new ceramics that had appeared,