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.
ukiyo-e
Japanese for 'pictures of the floating world'. Ukiyo-e were popular in the seventeenth to nineteenth-centuries, and depicted kabuki actors, landscapes, and folk tales.
Example: Kitagawa Utamaro's Five Kinds of Ink from the Northern Provinces, early 1790's
ultramarine
Blue pigment originally made from ground lapis lazuli. French ultramarine is an artificial substitute.
undercut
Carving to create an overhang; a recess or awkward angle in the surface or form of a three-dimensional object which would prevent easy removal of a cast from a mold. Molds should be designed to eliminate this problem. Ways to cast objects with overhangs include using piece molds and waste molds.
underdrawing
Drawing preliminary to other work, and incorporated into it, thus deprived of independent artistic value. An example is the underdrawing in fresco and panel painting, such as sinopia and abbozzo.
underpainting
The layer or layers of color on a painting surface applied before the overpainting, or final coat. There are many types of underpainting. One type is an all-over tinting of a white ground. Another is a blocked out image in diluted oil colors that serves as a guide for the painter while developing the composition and color effects.
See Also: abbozzo, sinopia (or sinopie), grisaille
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