Glossary
celadon
A ceramic glaze containing iron. It must be fired by the reduction method, with its red iron oxide (ferric) reduced to black (ferroso-ferric). The final color of the glaze is either olive green, gray-green, or gray. Celadon ware was developed and perfected during the prosperous Sung [or Song] dynasty (960-1279). It was valued by the Chinese largely because of its resemblance to jade. The pigment known as celadon green is also called green earth, the main ingredient of which is celadonite, an iron silicate. Chinese and Korean celadon porcelain was named for the resemblance of its color to this pigment. The word originated as the name of a character in the 1610 story by Frenchman Honoré d'Urfé, L'Astrée.
jade
Yü in Chinese, is a general term for numerous semiprecious gemstones, including nephrite (also called greenstone) and jadeite (a member of the tremolite-actinolite family of minerals), obtained as a pebble or boulder in greens and white, along with agate, onyx, serpentine, amber, and lapis lazuli. Extremely hard, it is worked with abrasives to form sculpture and ornaments, usually small in size, especially in China. During the Neolithic period primitive people almost universally used stone tools and carved decorative objects of jade-like stone. Only the Chinese, however, developed a long tradition of jade work. Other peoples stopped using the material after the Stone Age. Since Jade cannot be cut by metal, the carving process has mainly been that of abrasion. The original tools were probably slabs of sandstone and wetted abrasive sands made from crushed quartz, garnet, and corundum. Refinements in cutting, carving, drilling, and polishing techniques were developed gradually over time. Since jade working has always been laborious, requiring tremendous skill, jade objects were used for ceremonial, burial, court status, and other decorative purposes. They were rarely used as utilitarian objects.
Japonisme
In the late 19th century, European artists had their first glimpse at Japanese woodblock prints, provoking paintings that demonstrate a heavy influence of Japanese art on painters in Europe.
Example: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge, 1892-1895
jolleying
Shaping a thin layer of clay over a revolving plaster mould with a shaped template or profile.
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