Longquan celadon
Longquan celadon is thick green glaze from Zhejiang, made to look like jade.
Learn it by three names
Di kiln, the younger brother
Pale body under thick, smooth glaze with no crackle. Legend credits two brothers with Longquan's two styles.
Ge kiln, the elder brother
Dark body with bold crackle. Thin glaze at the lip and a bare foot show the clay: 'purple mouth, iron foot.'
Fenqing and meiziqing
Fenqing is soft powder blue. Meiziqing is deeper, like an unripe plum. Both take several layers of glaze and more than one firing.
Many layers of glaze, one soft green.
What to look for
Longquan celadon
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Good to know
What is Longquan celadon?
Longquan celadon is a green-glazed ceramic from Longquan, Zhejiang, at its height in the Southern Song. Its thick layered glaze was made to recall jade.
What does celadon mean?
Celadon is the Western word for gray-green glazed ceramics. People say it comes from a pale-green-clad character in a 17th-century French novel.
Is celadon porcelain?
Not always. Celadon names the green glaze, and the body under it can be stoneware or porcelain. Longquan pieces are mostly high-fired, porcelain-like stoneware.
