Tripod Censer, Jin dynasty (1115–1234). High-fired green ware (celadon), 16.5 x 20 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alan and Simone Hartman, 1991.127.1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Celadon is a high-fired glaze ranging in color from olive to blue-green with a history dating back to the Han dynasty (206 b.c.e.–c.e. 220). By the Northern Song period (960–1179), high-quality celadon-glazed stoneware was produced in a cluster of kilns in Shaanxi province in northern China. After this area fell under the control of the non-Chinese Jin Dynasty in 1115, the conquering Jurchens produced celadons that perpetuated Song techniques and at times also showed traces of a separate aesthetic. This Jin tripod censer, used for burning incense, embraces the Chinese tendency to imitate the shape and surface decoration of ancient bronzes, here reflected in the sharp contours and the molded animal-head feet of the vessel.