All About : Celadon &“A Single Shard”

My introduction to this type of pottery was from a children’s book, 
“A Single Shard”.  


It was written by Linda Sue Park and won the 2002 Newbery Medal.  It is a story of an orphan and his dream to become a potter, set in the 12th century Korea. 


In the story, the pottery made by the master potter was “Celadon”.  The shard mentioned in the title is a shard of Celadon. 


I began to wonder “What does it look like"?


That’s what got me started on this blog post. :)

Not being very familiar with the term “shard”, I decided to look up the definition; “a piece of broken pottery, especially one found in an archaeological dig; a pot shred, a fragment of a brittle substance, as of glass or metal, or a small piece or part.”

Celadon is usually a pale green with a hint of blue, a glossy appearance and smooth texture.  It can be any shade of that color from a very pale yellow-green or gray green to deepest jade-green color.  It has a subtle beauty and elegant simplicity. 

Molded(Incised) Celadon

Plain Celadon

Inlaid Celadon

Celadon glazing was perfected during the Koryo dynasty of Korea which dates from 918 to 1392 AD.  There are three design types; inlaid, incised(or molded), and plain(called Mu-ju).  Celadon in Korean means “green”. It is referred to as “cheong-ja” in Korean. There is also a brown Celadon which is called “bun-cheong” or brown porcelain, as well as white.

These Celadon items are for sale in Grandma's Attic

Celadon is beautiful pottery but the book A Single Shard made it mean so much more to me than just a piece of pottery from Korea.  A Single Shard is a very moving story, it will bring Korean Celadon alive for you.  Come on in and see these beautiful pieces of pottery and visit your local library to check out A Single Shard, then let me know what you think of it! :)

-The GA Gang