The world of celadon glazes

Celadon glazes are some of the most beautiful, in my opinion. They come in a range of colors, and even range in finishes, from more waxy to pretty shiny and bright, but are always translucent, letting the clay body shine through the glaze. My personal favorite celadons are from the Korean Goryeo Dynasty. They are typically fairly waxy, and range from a blue grey to a soft green, but always highlight the gorgeous inlay or carving done on the pieces.

Maebyeong vase, with cloud and crane inlay from the MET collection- Goryeo Dynasty, second half of the 12th century

These glazes have been a favorite of mine since I began making pots. The translucency and way they highlight the inlay has been an inspiration for my work since I first saw it. I've always seen the glaze as much more blue than many Chinese celadons, possibly meaning the glaze is lower in titanium impurities. That blue has been my goal for most of my pots, something that highlights and compliments the floral patterns I often place on my own work.

Bottle decorated with chysanthemums and lotus petals- Korea, late 13th-14th century, from the MET collection.

My current favorite glaze recipe is one Nick tweaked and changed a little from a different glaze recipe. It's meant to fit cone 10 b mix well, and it does.

We named it Tichane Blue Celadon, and it's the one I use the most often in my work. Here is the recipe.

Tichane Blue △ 10

            100   10,000           20,000

Silica ———————  33---------------------------- 3300---------------------------- 6600

Whiting ——————  20 ------------------------- 4000---------------------------- 4000

G200 ———————  27---------------------------- 2700---------------------------- 5400

Grolleg  ——————  20----------------------------2000--------------------------- 4000

+

Black Iron Oxide —— 1-------------------------------- 100----------------------------- 400

This glaze is a bit more shiny than the Goryeo Dynasty celadons, but I think carries the same spirit of the glazes. It goes yellow in oxidation, as shown in the last image. This glaze basically does not run, I've never been able to make it do that, but will crawl if applied too thickly.

When Nick formulated it, he chose ingredients that would have the least amount of titanium impurities, and in general the most clean ( free of impurities) materials he could find. In our experience, materials that have titanium will make iron appear a bit more green, rather than blue. I adore this glaze, and I hope other people do as well. It appears to work well in many different firing types, from gas reduction to wood and soda, it always looks gorgeous.

Lela