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Chinese PorcelainVerified sources

Longquan · Plum Green Celadon

Layer upon layer of celadon, warmed by the kiln into the look of green jade

Plum-green and powder-blue celadons settle into layered glaze, with pale exposed ridges tracing the vessel’s turns.

  • Longquan
  • Southern Song
  • Plum green
  • Powder blue
  • Celadon
  • Pooled glaze
  • Carved decoration
PLATE · Longquan · Plum Green Celadon

01The story

In the Southern Song period, powder-blue and plum-green wares made at Longquan became major expressions of celadon. Plum green generally reads deeper and greener, while powder blue is softer and paler. Neither is a flat, uniform colour: the glaze gathers, thins over raised ridges and changes in appearance as the vessel turns. Rather than treating celadon as a generic plant green, this theme abstracts the structure of a tripod censer: deep green carries primary actions, pale green forms the surface, and white appears only in carved lines and highlights.

02Where the colours come from

The ground and panels come from the thinner layers of powder-blue glaze; the accent is a deeper plum green, while secondary text and rules correspond to pooled shadow and exposed body. The Palace Museum’s celadon tripod censer documents how raised ridges show pale where the glaze thins; Shanghai Museum collection material adds context for Longquan forms and glazes. The illustration reproduces no specific object.

03How the palette was built

The palette keeps chroma low and builds hierarchy through values of green rather than loud saturation. Body text remains a deep celadon ink, links use a darker plum green, and glaze highlights stay on fine lines and small nodes. The syntax palette uses deep teal, pine green, antique bronze and blue-grey so code does not collapse into one shade of green.

04Sources and references

  • LinkLongquan Celadon Tripod Censer (龙泉窑青釉鬲式三足炉)Palace Museum collection recordDocuments the plum-green glaze, tripod form and pale exposed ridges caused by thinner glaze.
  • LinkShanghai Museum collection materialPublic collection entryContext for Longquan celadon forms and glazes; the site illustration is an original abstraction.
  • ClassicA History of Chinese Ceramics (中国陶瓷史)Feng XianmingGeneral chronology and craft background for Southern Song Longquan celadon.
  • ClassicYinliuzhai Shuoci (饮流斋说瓷)Ji Yuansou (Chen Liu), Qing dynastyLater critical vocabulary for Longquan glazes and the name plum green.

05Credits and licence

Palette
Theme Atlas editorial team
Text
Theme Atlas editorial team
Graphics
Theme Atlas (original SVG)
Data licence
Palette data released under CC BY 4.0
Illustration licence
All illustrations are original SVGs; no collection object or museum image is reproduced.