The term celadon wears many literary hats. In discussions of pottery and ceramics, it denotes a refined glaze or a particular hue—a subtle, often greyish-green tint achieved through specific materials and techniques, underlining its association with East Asian porcelain traditions [1, 2, 3, 4]. At the same time, celadon appears in poetic and dramatic contexts as a character’s name or an evocative metaphor, symbolizing languor, melancholy passion, or delicate charm in romantic interludes [5, 6, 7, 8]. Its dual usage, both as a descriptor of exquisite craftsmanship and as a personified emblem in literary narratives, underscores the term’s versatile and enduring appeal [9, 10, 11, 12].
- We may note that a celadon of good tint can only be produced when a considerable quantity of lime is present in the glaze.
— from Porcelain by Edward Dillon
- It is well to remember that all those colours which are called Celadon, or self-coloured, have the tints mixed in the glaze.
— from Chats on Oriental China by J. F. Blacker
- The celadon of the Chinese is produced by the presence of a small quantity, about two per cent., of protoxide of iron in the glaze.
— from Porcelain by Edward Dillon
- The surface of the vase is entirely coated with a crackled glaze of bluish-celadon tone, running down in thick waves round the edge of the foot.
— from A Book of Porcelain: Fine examples in the Victoria & Albert Museum by Bernard Rackham
- What is it Celadon has done, That all his happiness is gone!
— from Minor Poets of the Caroline Period, Vol. III
- Celadon , poetical name for a languid swain, all sighs and longings.
— from The Nuttall Encyclopædia
Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by P. Austin Nuttall
- 68 Celadon, in Dryden’s Marriage a la Mode , enters marriage with the distinct expectation that his wife will be untrue to him.
— from Humanistic Studies of the University of Kansas, Vol. 1 by Pearl Hogrefe
- Any hag with golden eyes will always find me as affectionate as a Celadon.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
- IV Do you know that it will soon be five months, yes, fully five months, five eternities that I have been the titular Celadon of Madame Rosette?
— from Mademoiselle de Maupin, Volume 1 (of 2) by Théophile Gautier
- When Alexis assumes the name of Celadon, he calls that love which Astrea had mistaken for fraternal affection.
— from Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Isaac Disraeli
- The word which was translated "blue" should have been translated "green," which brings us back again to Celadon.
— from Chats on Oriental China by J. F. Blacker
- The first of these glazes is the well-known Celadon , using that term in its proper and restricted sense, for certain shades of greyish green.
— from Porcelain by Edward Dillon