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| Home > Permanent Exhibitions > Ceramic Craft Gallery > Celadon |
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Korea began making celadon in the 9th century or early 10thcentury under the Chinese influence, and slowly built a unique world of Goryeo celadon, best known for the jade green color, refined silhouette, and sentimental patterns. In the 11thcentury, Gangjin and Buan became the hub for manufacturing celadon, which became more sophisticated, and by the 12th century the regal elegance reached its peak. In the 13th century, inlaid celadon became popular, which was basically incising the desired design onto the unglazed clay surface, afterwards filling in the spaces with different colored slip.
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This piece is called a "bowl with a halo-shaped foot" because the bottom of its foot is in the shape of a halo around the sun. Representative of the early celadon style in Korea, this piece shows the highly developed tea-drinking culture during the Buddhism Goryeo Dynasty. |
| Overall tinted with light blue, this celadon bowl is designed for easy grip, and its foot is still marked with a separator used in baking. |
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This celadon ewer has a stable oval shape. Its S-shaped mouth and curved handle add variety to its bodyshape. The gourd design on the surface is a result of a wide and shallow embossing, a technique emerging in the mid-Goryeo Dynasty. This piece is tinted with pale green, and its foot is still marked with sand spread during baking.
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The six dints on the outerline of this piece gives it a flower shape. The inside of the dish is pressed down on with a peony-shaped mold. The peony design symbolizes high status and wealth. Showing the elegant lines of a single blossoming peony, this dish is representative of the heyday of jade-colored celadon. Inside of its foot are three silica supports. |
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In this celadon bowl, the background of the lotus design is filled with oxidized iron-contained brown clay. Like this, mixing brown clay with water and using it to paint with brush is called "iron painting technique," which was popular in the 11th and 12th centuries during the Goryeo Dynasty. |
| An iron painting technique was generally used to make a simple design, but in this particular piece, the background of the main pattern is filled with brown clay, which is unusual. |
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This clear blue celadon water dropper takes the shape of a melon. In the mid-Goryeo Dynasty, many form-imitative celadon were made in the shapes of various people, plants or animals. This particular piece deliciously shows the hooves of the fat fruit and the delicate veins of the leaves. The mouth is formed by two leaves, the curved stem looks rhythmical, and the bottom of the foot has a bright red brown color. |
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Following a gradual upward curve, this celadon bowl is filled with flowing designs inside and outside. Its inside bottom has a clear carved circle around which pairs of ducks are floating. The inner bottom of its foot shows a character '木' written in iron painting, a trademark for pieces found in the Gangjin Sadang-ri area. |
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The round body of this celadon bottle is flattened from two sides, which was a new shape emerging in the late Goryeo Dynasty. Its shoulder and foot are lined with lotus petals, and its middle body has a double-lined window in the shape of water chestnut, inside which a simple branch of chrysanthemum design is nestled. This is a typical design from the 14th century, and the two sides of the bottle body show the cranes flying through clouds. |
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Unicorn, an imaginary animal, is sitting on the lid of this incense burner, and the monster heads are serving as the feet of this piece. Sitting on the thunder-designed stool, the unicorn is prominently showing its horn, beard, mane, and fur. The incense smoke is to come out of its mouth. The bottom of this incense burner is marked with a small silica used during firing. The vivid sculpture and green colour of this piece are of excellent quality. |
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This set of celadon cup and stand are very indicative of the tea culture of the Goryeo Dynasty. The cup and the stand are both designed with flower patterns, expressing chrysanthemum inlaid with brown clay and white clay. |
This kind of celadon set began to be made in the tradition of the metallic tea set in the Goryeo Dynasty. This piece is presumed to be used in temples or for official tea ceremonies.
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