Kiln Background: The Pinnacle of Celadon—The Longquan Kilns
The Longquan kilns, located in and around modern-day Longquan, Zhejiang province, are the most famous celadon-producing center in Chinese history, with the longest production period and widest distribution of kiln sites. Their development peaked during the Southern Song Dynasty and continued through the Yuan, where they became world-renowned for their unique fenqing (pale blue-green) and meiziqing (plum green) glazes. By precisely controlling their clay and glaze formulas and the kiln atmosphere, Longquan potters successfully imitated the color and texture of natural jade. Their products were not only favored by the imperial court but were also exported in vast quantities, becoming one of the most iconic commodities of the Maritime Silk Road.
Form and Craftsmanship: A Style of Classic Elegance
Measuring approximately 9 x 9 x 15.8 cm, this vase has a tall, slender, and graceful form, a classic vessel type of the Song and Yuan Longquan kilns.
Form: The vessel has a wide, flat plate-shaped mouth (pankou), a long neck, sloping shoulders, a globular body, and a foot ring. The neck is decorated with several raised rings, resembling a stalk of bamboo, which adds to the vessel's elegant posture and evokes the scholarly ideal of integrity (IMG_6973.jpg). The body is incised with several concentric "string lines" (xianwen), which enrich the form with a sense of rhythm and layering (IMG_6972.jpg).
Glaze Quality: The entire piece is covered in an exceptionally thick and lustrous celadon glaze. The color is a delicate bluish-green, the most celebrated fenqing (pale blue-green) glaze of the Longquan kilns. The surface is smooth with a soft, internal radiance, possessing the unctuous texture of fine jade rather than a glassy sheen.
The Base and Body: The base of the vase (IMG_6974.jpg) exhibits the classic technical features of Longquan ware. The foot ring is neatly trimmed. The exposed, unglazed portion of the fine white porcelain body has fired to a reddish-brown or orange color due to re-oxidation. This is the famous "iron foot" or "cinnabar base" phenomenon of Longquan ware and is a key feature for connoisseurship.
The Luster of Jade: An Analysis of a Late Song-Early Yuan Longquan Celadon Vase with Incised Lines
Longquan Celadon Vase with Incised Lines
Era
Late Song – Early Yuan
Kiln
Longquan kilns
Glaze
Celadon glaze
Celadon glaze
SIZE
15.8
x
9
x
9
CM
This Late Song-Early Yuan Dynasty Longquan celadon vase, with its plate mouth, long neck, and incised lines, is a ceramic work of art that elevates purity of form and glaze to its zenith. With its dignified and elegant shape, thick and unctuous glaze, and a tranquil celadon color like still lake water, it perfectly interprets the crowning achievements of the Longquan kilns and the aesthetic ideal of the Song-Yuan literati, who sought to "compare virtue to jade." This vase is not merely a decorative object but a microcosm of a glorious era in the history of Chinese celadon.
The Beauty of the Glaze: The Science of a Jade-like Texture
The mesmerizing, jade-like quality of Longquan celadon is no accident, but a perfect combination of superb craftsmanship and material science.
Coloration Principle: The delicate color of the fenqing glaze is the result of a small amount of ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) in the glaze being reduced to ferrous oxide (FeO) in a reducing kiln atmosphere.
The Secret to its Jade-like Texture: The unctuous, jade-like quality comes from the internal structure of the glaze. Longquan potters masterfully controlled the glaze's viscosity and firing temperature, which allowed a dense network of countless, mist-like micro-bubbles to form and be trapped within the glaze. At the same time, many tiny, unmelted quartz particles remained suspended. When light enters the glaze, it is scattered by these layers of bubbles and particles, creating a soft, diffused reflection. This is what produces the visual effect of opacity and the warm, gentle texture of jade.
A Microscopic Look: A Sea of Bubbles Beneath the Glaze
Under high magnification, the secrets of the Longquan glaze are revealed in stunning detail:
Dense Bubbles: A series of micro-photographs (IMG_6977.jpg, IMG_6978.jpg, IMG_6982.jpg) clearly shows the countless tiny bubbles densely packed within the glaze layer. It is this "sea of bubbles" that forms the physical basis for the opaque, deep, and moist texture of the fenqing glaze.
An Imprint from the Kiln: On the interior of the mouth, a dark brownish-black spot, formed from a melted impurity in the glaze, is visible (IMG_6976.jpg). Microscopic observation of this spot (IMG_6984.jpg to IMG_6989.jpg) reveals a complex state of intermingling between a black glassy mass, brown crystalline structures, and the surrounding celadon glaze. This is not a defect but a precious "kiln mark" that records the high-temperature chemical reactions that occurred during firing.
Conclusion
This Late Song-Early Yuan Longquan celadon vase, with its perfect form, pure glaze color, and unctuous texture, is a canonical masterpiece of Chinese celadon art. It eschews complex decoration, captivating the viewer with the beauty of its lines and glaze alone, fully embodying the core Song Dynasty aesthetic principle of "great beauty is found in simplicity." It is not only a delightful work of art but is also the physical crystallization of the Longquan potters' spirit, who, through the media of earth, water, and fire, pursued the virtues of jade.