Aqua

C-40

⬛ Black Level

Aqua is a glossy brush-on glaze from Amaco's Celadon line, fired cone 5 to cone 6.

GlossyTranslucentTexture-friendlyCone 5/6
Available at The Clay HoleYes
Test tile
Fired pot
Celadon family
Find it on the glazes shelves Shelf 3, Row 5Tile #19 on the Celadon pot
Show me where

The quick version of Aqua

TypeBrush-on glaze
FinishGlossy
OpacityTranslucent
Shows textureYes, good on carving
Glaze fire toCone 5/6
Bisque toCone 04

What this glaze does

This 100% mixable celadon glaze is a light, glossy blue-green that pools darker turquoise and accents textured ware like the ancient glazes it is created to imitate.

Clays that suit Aqua

These are transparent, so the clay body is doing as much work as the glaze. Amaco photographs the line on white clay.

Rated forCone 5 and cone 6 over cone 04 bisque, which covers every body on our shelf.
Light bodies#16 Porcelain, B-Mix and Half & Half give you the color Amaco shows on its own tiles. Start here if you want the published color.
Buff bodies52 Buff and Speckled Buff warm every color in this line and let iron speckle read straight through the glaze.
Berlin GrayOur dark body will change a transparent glaze more than any other choice you make. Expect deeper and quieter than the label.
On textureThis is the line to reach for when the pot is carved. The color gathers in the recesses and thins on the ridges without any effort from you.
Blocks of clay in the studio at The Clay Hole The complete guide to clay bodies What each body is made of and how it behaves under a glaze. The clay bodies we stock at The Clay Hole The clays we carry Every body on our shelf, with bag sizes and prices.

Applying this glaze to your work

Transparent, so thickness controls how dark the color reads rather than how well it covers. Thick pools dark, thin reads light.

Across the Celadon line

Apply to cone 04 bisque and fire to cone 5 or cone 6. These are transparent, so thickness controls depth of color rather than coverage.

Thick pools dark, thin reads light. On a carved pot that difference is the entire effect.

Layering

Amaco publishes this line as a base under Potter's Choice at three coats over three coats, and prints the combination tiles. The celadons are also 100 percent intermixable with each other.

Before you commit a pot

Amaco publishes this line as a base for Potter's Choice, three coats of celadon under three coats of Potter's Choice, and prints the tiles to prove it. We carry all 46 Potter's Choice glazes, so that whole chart is available to you here.

The celadons also mix with each other completely, which is the point of the line.

From The Clay Hole University

More info about Aqua below, but first... Everything we teach about glazing, written down and taught properly. These are the glaze lessons, and they are a small corner of a library that runs from centering your first pot to selling your work.

When to Use Celadon Glazes GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes Glaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat Glazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster Getting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles Glaze Problems, Causes and Fixes GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes Glazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands Bubble Glaze with Dish Soap GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap Mixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves Making a Glaze Catcher GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher Getting Great Results with Crystalline Glazes GuideGetting Great Results with Crystalline Glazes Oxide and Carbonate Washes GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes How to Use Dipping Glazes GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes Raku Firing: Techniques, Tips and How It Works RakuRaku Firing: Techniques, Tips and How It Works How to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing Mishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines Wipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
Browse all 170+ lessons and guides

Firing Aqua

Amaco rates the Celadon line for cone 5 and cone 6 over bisque fired to cone 04.

If you are a member here

None of this is yours to manage. We handle everything on the kiln side, and every glaze on our shelves can be fired safely in our studio.

Common problems with Aqua

Why is the color darker in my carved lines?

That is the glaze doing its job. A transparent celadon pools and darkens where it is thick.

Why does it look weaker than the poster?

Either a thin coat or a darker clay. Amaco photographs this line on white clay.

Can I make my own color?

Yes. The line is 100 percent intermixable, and Mixing Clear softens any of them.

Food and function

Amaco rates the Celadon line dinnerware safe. Three colors in the line are not AP Non-Toxic: Storm, Jade and Rainforest. Anyone producing tableware should test their own finished ware.

Across the Celadon line

Amaco rates the entire Celadon line dinnerware safe.

Three of them are not AP Non-Toxic: C-27 Storm, C-47 Jade and C-49 Rainforest. Every other color in the line carries that rating. Anyone producing tableware should test their own finished ware.

Test tile pots lined up on the glaze shelves at The Clay Hole

Our test tile pots

Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.

  1. 1Find the pot The brand and family name are written on the rim. This glaze lives on the Amaco Celadon pot.
  2. 2Find the tile This one is tile #19. The numbers match the ones in the Glaze Bible.
  3. 3Read it properly Look at what the glaze does across all four textures, not just what color it is.

What to look at on the tile

Broad vertical textureA broad open surface. Shows the color at full strength, and whether the glaze travels down it.
Shallow textureA shallow swirl stamp. Shows whether light carving still reads once the glaze is on, or fills in and vanishes.
Deep textureCut lines. A deeply rough texture stripe. Shows where the glaze pools, how it breaks, and how dark it goes in the recesses.
Wipe-away textureGlaze wiped back to bare clay. Shows what the edge does where the coat runs thin. Find this wiped away on the tile's number.
One trick worth knowing

Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.

About the Amaco Celadon Family

Celadon is Amaco's transparent gloss line, modeled on the ancient glazes of the same name. Thirty three colors, all of them see-through.

They darken where they pool and lighten where they thin, which is why they read so strongly over carving and texture. The clay underneath is part of the finished color rather than something the glaze hides.

Thirty three transparent gloss colors, rated by Amaco for cone 5 and cone 6 over cone 04 bisque. The defining feature is that they are 100 percent intermixable with each other. Amaco sells this line as a palette rather than a set of finished colors: mix two, shade a color with Obsidian, tint it with Snow, or soften anything with Mixing Clear.

All Celadon glazesAll Amaco glazes
Celadon family

More ways to pick a glaze

The Mega Glaze Tool Every glaze we carry, filtered by level, color, sheen and more. The Glaze Finder Type a name and see exactly where it sits on our wall. Clay Hole University Glazing lessons, from brushing to dipping to layering. Download the Glaze Bible PDF The whole printed Bible, in one file.

Membership levels that may use this glaze: Black

Not sure whether this glaze suits what you are making, or how it works with our system here? Ask an instructor. That is what we are here for, and a two minute conversation at the shelf beats a fired pot you did not want.

How membership levels work Back to the Glaze Bible
About these images and what your pot will actually look like

We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.

Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.

A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.

On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.

Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.

Download the Glaze Bible PDF