Ge Kiln
 The original Ge Kiln was reportedly located in Longquan County of
East China's Zhejiang
Province, but so far no site has been discovered.
It was said that two brothers, the elder named Zhang Sheng the First, and the
younger Zhang Sheng the Second, were skilled at porcelain making, with their
wares greatly acclaimed among the people. According to the Annals of Chuzhou
Prefecture, the vessels made by Zhang Sheng the First were called Ge (elder
brother) ware, known from the many specimens handed down.
These vessels were light in color: powder blue, pale white, or the yellow of
parched rice. They had not the kingfisher green of the Longquan ware glaze.
Rather, the glaze of Ge ware was crackled, with large and small crackles
interspersed. The large crackles (decoration patterns of very small surface
cracks) were jet-black and the small ones brownish yellow, leading to the
popular description of, "Golden wires and iron threads."
Crackles appeared because the ingredients of the paste and glaze had
different compositions and so expanded to different degrees during firing and
cooling. Accidental at first, the crackles were later intended, as it was
thought they gave the vessels a touch of classic elegance. And so this original
blemish became a special feature of Ge ware, with succeeding generations of
potters vying in its imitation -- consciously arranging the grains of the
ingredients in a given direction to produce crystals that resulted in crackles
of varying sizes on the vessels' surface.
Ge ware paste was iron black, with its objects being mainly censers, vases,
and bowls. Years of research prove that Ge ware celadon was a special variety of
Longquan celadon influenced by Southern Song Guan ware and it was given its
present name Ge ware by later generations. The story of the Zhang brothers
directing kilns was handed down from the Yuan
Dynasty (1279-1368) but has not been substantiated by archaeological
discoveries.
|
E-Mail
This Article 
Print
Friendly Format 
