Bowl thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 143, The Timothy Sainsbury Gallery

Bowl

1250-1350 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Potters in Korea made ceramics with a clear, greenish-grey glaze – known as celadon – throughout the Koryo period (918–1392). Around 1150, potters developed a new technique for decorating this celadon-glazed pottery. Designs were carved into the surface of the vessel and filled with coloured materials before the wares were glazed. After firing, the pattern inlaid in this way remained clearly visible beneath the transparent glaze.

The designs on Koryo celadons were generally carved by hand, however the overlapping motifs in the centre of this bowl suggest that this element of the design was created with a stamp. The main pattern is of ducks in willows: a popular motif for decoration at this time.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, thrown, inlaid and glazed
Brief description
Cer, Korea, Koryo, celadon
Physical description
The bowl is decorated with white and black inlay and covered with a celadon galze. The exterior has four ringed lines, while the interior carries double circles, a band of cloud motifs a frieze of ducks, willows and reeds and three line borders. There is a firing fault on the exterior. Inside the foot ring are sand marks.

Colour: Greyish green, white and black
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.7cm
  • Diameter: 19cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Mr Aubrey Le Blond
Production
(dated 1150-1400 in ELISE data)
Subjects depicted
Summary
Potters in Korea made ceramics with a clear, greenish-grey glaze – known as celadon – throughout the Koryo period (918–1392). Around 1150, potters developed a new technique for decorating this celadon-glazed pottery. Designs were carved into the surface of the vessel and filled with coloured materials before the wares were glazed. After firing, the pattern inlaid in this way remained clearly visible beneath the transparent glaze.

The designs on Koryo celadons were generally carved by hand, however the overlapping motifs in the centre of this bowl suggest that this element of the design was created with a stamp. The main pattern is of ducks in willows: a popular motif for decoration at this time.
Bibliographic references
  • Beth McKillop. Korean Art and Design. London: V&A, 1992. 7.
  • Bernard Rackham. Catalogue of the Le Blond collection of Corean pottery . London: V&A, 1918. 27.95.
Collection
Accession number
C.580-1918

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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