CELERY… CELERIA… CELADON!
What a lovely word – and colour – is celadon. (I’m trying to ignore the fact that it is also perilously close to celery. I actually like celery to eat, but it just doesn’t bring anything to the table here [erm, sorry]. Is anyone else thinking this, or have I just ruined it for everyone?) … LET’S START AGAIN.
What a lovely word – and colour – is celadon. (OH NO – a worse vegetable just popped into my head! I’m not even going to say this one aloud.)
Chinese Longquan celadon from Zhejiang, Song Dynasty, 13th centuryCeladon is the name given to a type of glazed ceramic ware originating in ancient China. It subsequently spread to other parts of Asia, including Northern Thailand, Japan and Korea, and was exported throughout Asia, the Middle-East and Europe. Celadon glaze can be produced in various shades: white, grey, blue, yellow and green, depending on the type clay and ingredients of the glaze. Green, however, was historically the most popular shade, and so it became associated with the term ‘celadon’.
A modern bud vase in blue celadonGreen celadon originally mimicked the precious stone jade – in a similar way as the faience of ancient Egypt intended to imitate turquoise and lapis lazuli – and hues range from very pale yellow-tinted greens to deep blue-greens.
A scene from The Romance of Astrea and Celadon, a film by Éric Rohmer, one of my favourite directors. I must watch this.It was European collectors of the wares who first coined the term ‘celadon’. One theory – the most romantic of three – places the origin in 17th century France, and Honoré d’Urfé’s book L’Astrée (1627). In it, Celadon, a shepherd, wore pale green ribbons – presumably during the time he posed as a woman in the hope of winning his true love’s heart, the shepherdess Astrée (a novel approach).
Here is a pretty little gallery of celadon.
Links below
Celadon, Marian Yap, 2012Crinkle maxi skirt, vintage 80s from Deer Stop Vintage Home on Etsy
Designers Guild cushion in Celadon Giacosa, from Cherryellie Designs
Wool mohair sweater, vintage 70s, from Bottega Vintage on Etsy
The backdrop in the main image is a picture of the exterior of the Blue Souq in Sharjah, UAE.