Longquan celadon

LONGQUAN CELADON

Celadon is a word that is synonymous to Longquan greenware. Besides blue and white, this is definitely one of the best know types of Chinese porcelain. It could be found in countries along the maritime silk route, covering Southeast Asia, South/west Asia. middle-east and East Africa. The volume of Longquan celadon exported was enormous.

The kilns producing Longquan celadons were located in the south of Zhejiang province, covering ten counties with Longquan county as the main production centre. Because of its fame and popularity, many kilns in Fujian also produced similar type of wares for export.

Northern Song Longquan light green wares

Some experts are of the view that Longquan kilns originated during the Three Kingdoms and Western Jin based on some proto-porcelain and porcelain wares found in tombs in Fujian which were different from those of Yue wares type in Zhejiang. But based on latest kiln findings, we could only confirm a production which began in Northern Song period, with date ranging from mid 10th to mid 11th century. Based on the kiln findings in Jincun (金村), the early products were transparent light green in tone which was similar to those from the ou kiln (瓯窑). The body of the those light green ware are typically thin and with fully glazed footring and base . They are fired on spurs. However, there are also a small number without glaze on the outer base.

Longquan Dayao kiln

Late Northern Song Longquan wares with curved/combed motif

Longquan wares developed further during later part of Northern Song and were different from earlier Longquan celadon. The biscuit was light gray to gray in colour. It has thinly applied transparent, glassy glaze with unglaze exterior base. The glaze typically is greyish green or yellowish green but there are also some with clear light green tone. Chemical tests showed that it is a type of lime glaze with low viscosity. The base of the bowls is thick and was fired using a clay separator resting on the outer base to prevent adhesion to the saggar. A typical bowl of this period has curved vertical lines on the external wall and carved/incised floral motif with combed lines/zigzag lines on the interior. An example with the vertical lines on the exterior wall was excavated from the the tomb of Li Bing couple of A.D. 1091 at Liyang, Jiangsu province. Instead of vertical lines, there were also those with stylised carved/combed lotus petals on the external wall.

Mr Kamei Meitoku , basing on the archaeological findings in Longquan and Japan, did an article on the Chronology of Longquan wares. He noted that those bowls with carved/combed motif but without vertical carved lines on the external wall were made later. He dated those wares with carved/combed motif items to late 11th to mid 12th century, ie. late Northern Song Period.

Similar carved and combed motif could be found on other types of vessels. Many of the vases and bigger vessels were fired without the protection of the saggars.

More Northern Song Longquan Wares

Early Southern Song Lonquan wares

During the early Southern Song phase, mid 12th to end 12th century, the typical bowls have a thicker lower portion. The thick potting is necessary as the porcelain stone used contained a high silicon content. If too thin, the vessel would warp under high firing temperature. The glaze was still the lime type. Decoration become more sparse and combed lines have practically disappeared. A new composition with floral separated by a "s" shaped line was also introduced.

There is also a popular type without decoration but with an impressed inscriptions on the interior base which read 金玉满堂 |jingyumantang" (gold jade filled hall) or 河滨遗范 "hebinyifan" (river bank remaining models). The origin of the inscription could be traced to an ancient event. Shun (舜), one of the 5 emperors of prehistoric China, was said to have made pottery in Hebin. The term hebinyifan was in commemoration of the contribution of emperor shun.

Another popular type with lotus petal carvings on the exterior was introduced sometime later. The lotus petal has a raised ridge It also had the thick footring and unglaze base. This type continued to be made till the Yuan period.

Mid to Late Southern Song Longquan wares

During mid Southern Song, Longquan potters introduced a new glaze composition and paste. The traditional lime glaze was replaced by a lime-alkali glaze. Lime-alkali glaze is high on viscosity and is not runny and has a soft gloss. To increase the thickness of the glaze, the technique of multiple firing and multiple glazing was developed. The porcelain stone used is mixed with "zijin" (reddish purple) clay. This new mixture enabled a high-quality thin and light body porcelain to be made.

Two types of high quality celadons were produced. One has a thick glaze with white biscuit (with smaller amount of zijin clay", and the second a guan type thick glaze with thinner black biscuit (a higher amount of zijin clay used). The late southern Song to early Yuan period was the golden period of celadon production. The vessel is well-trimmed and has thin footring. The thick jade like glaze is of excellent quality The soft powdery green (fenqing (粉青)) and the plum green (meizhiqing (梅子青)) represented the two most successful glaze which are much treasured by collectors. Both types are fired under reduction firing atmosphere. The plum green is fired at a higher temperature and has clear and transparent jade-green colour. The fenqing is fired at a lower atmosphere and the glaze is less transparent and has a softer glow. Those vessels with yellow glaze were the result of un-intended oxidizing atmosphere which occurred during firing process.

Longquan wares of this period placed special emphasis on the glaze to bring out the aesthetics of the work. Hence, decorations were used sparingly. The most common decorations are bow string line, lotus petals, peony, dragon, phoenix and fish motif.

Guan type longquan wares

Celadons with a thick glaze and thin black biscuit were produced in small quantities only by Longquan Dayao and a few kilns in Xikou. The technology was borrowed from Jiaotanxia Guan kiln. Hence their forms, decorative motifs and glaze were similar to Guan wares.

More Southern Song Longquan Wares

Yuan Longquan wares

The Longquan kilns of the Yuan dynasty specialised in the production of celadons with light grayish white body. There were further development in terms of the production technology. Large plates were made to meet the needs of the Mongolian rulers and buyers from Southeast Asia and West Asia. Such large plates demonstrated the technical competence of the Longquan potters. They were not easy to produce as warping is a constant challenge that needed to be resolved.

During the mid to late Yuan period, the potters reverted to single layer glazing. Hence, the glaze is thinner and its colour was mainly yellowish green or grayish green. The vessels are thickly potted and have thick footring. The jade-like powdery green glaze had basically disappeared. There was also some change in firing practice: the Longquan celadons were now supported by a ring dish-like pad. Hence, there is an unglaze ring on the outer base which was usually scorched orange during firing. (see below photo)

Ming Longquan wares

Longquan wares continued to be produced during Ming through Late Qing period. During early Ming, there were many well made big plates with densely filled carved/molded floral motif on the interior being produced. Some of the better pieces have thick glossy glaze which was the result of multi layer glaze application. As compared with the typical earlier/mid Yuan plates, the wall of the plate is shallower. Those vessels of the late Ming pieces have glassier and more transparent glaze which tends to develop crazings. The production volume decreased markedly and the quality is relatively much poorer. Most kilns ceased production with just a few that continued to produce during the Qing period.