Where Glaze Colour Comes From

The colour of a ceramic bead is rarely a paint you can see in the jar. Before firing, many glazes look chalky and grey. The true colour appears only in the kiln, where a small amount of metal oxide reacts with heat and atmosphere. Understanding this makes each finished bead a little more remarkable.

A few oxides, many colours

Most classic ceramic colours come from just three metal oxides. Cobalt gives a deep, reliable blue — it is the strongest of the colourants, producing rich blue even at very low amounts. Copper can read as clear green, or, under the right conditions, a dramatic red. Iron is the quiet workhorse behind soft greens, celadon tones and warm browns.

Atmosphere changes everything

The same oxide can finish in different colours depending on the kiln's atmosphere. In an oxygen-rich (oxidation) firing, copper tends toward green. In an oxygen-starved (reduction) firing, that same copper can turn red, and iron shifts toward the cool blue-greens of celadon. This is why a maker controls not only temperature but the air inside the kiln. For a closer look at celadon itself, read The Colour of Sky After Rain.

Why no two batches are identical

Because colour depends on oxide percentage, temperature and atmosphere together, small natural variations are part of the craft. We see this not as a flaw but as the signature of a real, fired glaze.

The data: cobalt oxide produces a vivid blue at just 0.5–2% by weight; copper finishes green in oxidation but can turn red in a reduction firing.

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