Green glaze

A glaze that gives ceramics a green color. It uses lead as a solvent and the coloring agent copper oxidizes to produce a green color, and the amount of copper used determines the shade of color. There are two types of glaze: low-fired green glaze and high-fired green glaze. Low-fired green glaze, which is made at around 800°C, was first used in China during the Warring States period (4th to 3rd centuries B.C.). During the Han dynasty, when it became popular, it was used to fire a large number of roof tiles, bricks, and Ming ware figurines and vases, and during the Tang dynasty it was also used in the gorgeous Tang Sancai glaze. In Western Asia, it was fired in Syria within the Roman Empire around the time of the Christian era, and on the Korean peninsula, it is often seen in Baekje and Unified Silla. In Japan, green glaze is found in the Nara Sancai glaze (around the 8th century L.E.), a treasure housed in the Shosoin Repository, but it is believed to have been used in monochromatic glazes a little earlier (around the 7th century). During the Heian period, it was used in a single color as Heian green glaze, but this stopped being used for a while after the Kamakura period. During the Momoyama period, with the introduction of the Kochi sansai technique, it was expanded to a wide variety of products, including Raku ware and Kyo ware.

Green glazes for high-fired ash-glazed pottery are also produced at around 1250°C using copper as a coloring agent. In the Orient, this glazing method was invented in Vietnam around the 11th century, and in Japan, it was first attempted at the Myodo kiln in Mino (Gifu Prefecture) in the second half of the 16th century, and was widely used in the Oribe pottery of the Mino ware Motoyashiki kiln in the early 17th century.

[Yoshiaki Yabe]

"Complete Collection of Japanese Ceramics 5: Sansai and Green Glaze" edited by Shoichi Narazaki (1977, Chuokoron-Shinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陶磁器の緑色に呈発する釉薬。鉛を溶媒とし、呈色剤の銅の酸化によって緑色を呈し、その量で濃淡が生ずるが、これには低火度緑釉と高火度緑釉の2種がある。800℃内外で製される低火度緑釉は、中国では戦国時代（前4～前3世紀）に創始され、流行普及した漢代では瓦(かわら)や煉瓦(れんが)、明器(めいき)の陶俑(とうよう)・壺(こ)などが多数焼かれており、唐代には華麗な唐三彩にも用いられた。西アジアでは西暦前後にローマ帝国領内のシリア方面で焼かれており、また朝鮮半島では百済(くだら)、統一新羅(しらぎ)などに多くみられる。日本では正倉院宝物の奈良三彩（後8世紀ころ）に緑釉があるが、単彩ではもうすこし早い時期（7世紀ころ）に始められたと推測される。平安時代には平安緑釉として単彩で用いられたが、鎌倉時代以後はしばらくとだえ、桃山時代にふたたび交址(こうち)三彩の技術の導入により、楽焼・京焼を含む多彩な製品へと展開した。

　高火度の灰釉陶系の緑釉は、同じく銅を呈色剤として1250℃前後で製される。東洋ではベトナムで11世紀ころにこの釉法がくふうされ、日本ではまず美濃(みの)（岐阜県）の妙土(みょうど)窯が16世紀後半に試みており、17世紀初頭には美濃焼元屋敷窯の織部(おりべ)陶で大いに用いられた。

［矢部良明］

『楢崎彰一編『日本陶磁全集5　三彩・緑釉』（1977・中央公論社）』

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