What Color Is Celadon? About Celadon Color

Are you curious about what color is celadon? Stick around as we talk about this unique color hue.

When we think about the word celadon, what usually comes to mind is beautiful and intricate ceramic.

While this is indeed a type of ceramic and a glaze used in the world of pottery, what many don’t know is that celadon is actually a color as well.

Get to know the color celadon in this article and discover this shade in the world around you. Who knows, you might just find you have a new favorite hue.

Read on to learn more about this shade, what the celadon color symbolizes, and much more.

What Color Is Celadon?

Prior to discussing the color itself, we think it’s important to shed some light on what celadon is, as this might help you in further understanding the color later on.

For those who are not familiar with it, celadon is both a type of stoneware and a ceramic glaze itself that is greenish in hue.

Celadon hails from China during the Tang dynasty and was distributed to various parts of the world, including Egypt, India, Persia, and other parts of Asia during the Song and Ming dynasties.

Celadon is particularly prized in countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Much of its beauty and popularity comes from its close resemblance to jade.

Its somewhat transparent glaze, accentuated with crackled or speckled appearances, often characterizes this.

Apart from the intricate patterns that each country and period inlays on these ceramics, celadon owes much of its demand and popularity to an old superstition.

According to Britannica, people believed if poisoned food touched celadon dishes or stoneware, they would break or change color to show that someone had tampered with the food.

About Celadon Color

In order to achieve the unique color of celadon in ceramics and stoneware, artisans reportedly used slip or liquefied clay. This material contains high amounts of iron.

When it interacts with the high temperature inside the kiln during the firing stage, this results in the color celadon that we know today—light green resembling jade.

This also led to celadon being called greenware due to its resemblance to jade.

This light jade green hue is quite transparent, with some hints of gray in the glaze. This is a direct result of the iron oxide turning from ferric to ferrous iron during the process. This also explains why celadon can be quite pale in color.

Looking at it, the color celadon has undertones of both jade and gray, with many people lumping it into the pastel color category.

Despite being quite light and pale in hue, celadon seems to bear strong similarities to mint green. In fact, many use these two hues interchangeably despite having significant differences. To achieve the light green hue of celadon, you need to add gray to bright green.

Within the RGB color space, celadon has approximately 88.2% green, while it also has 68.6% of blue, and 67.5% of red.

Meanwhile, in terms of the CMYK color space, celadon has 24% cyan in it, 22% yellow, 12% black, and 0% magenta.

Celadon has a hex code of #ACE1AF.

The Meaning of Celadon Color

Celadon green is a hue that is serene and calming. Because of this, celadon is quite a popular color in interior design and architecture, especially to promote rest and relaxation.

Because celadon’s type of green errs on the muted side, it imbibes a sense of tranquility. At the same time, it also evokes feelings of hope and renewal because of its shade of green.

With its close ties and resemblance to jade, celadon green can also represent abundance and wealth, as well as one’s social status. It can also have links to happiness.

Working With Celadon Color

Since celadon is a fresh color, it can work with different hues across the spectrum. Of course, it pairs perfectly with neutrals such as beiges, taupes, whites, creams, and the like. This is a great color combination if you wish to achieve a simple yet refreshing space.

Those who want to create interiors reminiscent of the Art Deco style can pair celadon with black and even woodsy tones and gray.

Meanwhile, for those who want to fill their home with colors left and right, celadon will fit right in even with bolder hues such as mustard yellow and dusty pink.

The Takeaway

The celadon color owes its rich origins to its unique appearance. If you want to transform your space and even your wardrobe into something more magical, playing with celadon may just help you achieve the look you are going for.

Hope you enjoyed learning about the celadon color. Cheers!