In recent years, China’s ceramics industry has produced an iron-red glaze product that has been well received both at home and abroad. When fired in an oxidizing atmosphere, this glaze presents a deep, so-called “sea-cucumber brown” color, dotted with broad-bean-sized orange-red patches, giving the whole piece a rare, luxurious, and dignified appearance. Under a reducing atmosphere, the sea-cucumber brown turns black, and under proper firing conditions the orange-red mottling changes little. As a result, the production process is relatively easy to control and yields a high success rate. In the Jingdezhen region, almost every ceramics factory produces it, and the Ceramics Industry Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Light Industry has systematically studied the technical patterns governing this glaze’s production and further observed its microstructure.
