Crackle Glaze

Crackle glaze (开片, kaipian) intentionally creates networks of fine cracks in the glaze layer through controlled cooling. These fractures, often stained with ink or tea over time, form decorative patterns ranging from delicate “golden thread and iron wire” to bold “ice crackle.”

Historical Evolution

• Song Dynasty哥窑 (Ge Kiln): Original “golden wire, iron wire” pattern from differential staining
• Ming仿哥釉 (Ge-type glaze): Deliberate replication using glaze with higher silica content
  -清代 (Qing): Developing “hundred crackles” through multiple glaze applications

Technical Control
Artisans manipulate:
-釉料 (glaze) composition to create specific crack patterns

• Cooling rate to control crack size (rapid cooling = larger cracks)
• Multiple firings to achieve layered crack effects

Collecting Tradition
Connoisseurs value crackle glaze for its “living” quality—cracks continue to develop over centuries. The National Palace Museum’s Song Ge ware zun vase with its 500-year-old crackle pattern demonstrates how these ceramics record the passage of time through their changing appearance.