Iron-Based Glazes

Iron is one of the most important colour-producing elements in high-fired Asian ceramics. At sufficiently high concentrations, iron-bearing glazes can move from olive and brown toward very dark brown or black.

Their appearance is not controlled by iron content alone. Glaze chemistry, firing atmosphere, peak temperature and cooling determine which iron-bearing phases develop and how light interacts with the surface.

Historic iron-glaze traditions include a wide variety of black, brown and crystalline effects. Blue Fir uses this category for the material system, not as a claim that all such historic glaze traditions originated in Jingdezhen.