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

Bowl

1800-1850 (made)
Place of origin

This bowl has been inlaid with white slip in a style reminiscent of Korean ceramics. The combination of white inlay under a grey-green glaze recalls in particular Korean celadon ceramics of the Koryo period (918–1392). The design of inlaid chrysanthemums was also a popular motif on Koryo ceramics.

The vase was made at the Yatsushiro kilns situated in Kumamoto Prefecture on the western island of Kyushu. This area has a long history of contact with the Korean peninsular. During Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597, Korean potters were brought to Kyushu, where they helped to develop the local ceramic industry.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, inlaid and glazed
Brief description
Bowl, stoneware with clear glaze over incised and slip-filled decoration, Japan, Yatsushiro ware, 1800-1850
Physical description
Small stoneware bowl with decoration in inlaid slip. Twelve evenly spaced flowerheads enclosed within two pairs of concentric rings form a band of decoration around the upper part of the interior of the bowl. On the exterior, there is a broad band of decoration with wavy lines in slip. The bowl is covered in a clear greenish glaze with fine crazing throughout. The footring is unglazed revealing a red-brown body.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.8cm
  • Diameter: 12.0cm
Style
Gallery label
TEA BOWL Stoneware with impressed, incised and combed slip-filled decoration under clear glaze Yatsushiro ware JAPANESE; c.1800-1850 305-1877(As at 2005)
Object history
Purchased from the Japanese Commissioners for the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, accessioned in 1877. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Association
Summary
This bowl has been inlaid with white slip in a style reminiscent of Korean ceramics. The combination of white inlay under a grey-green glaze recalls in particular Korean celadon ceramics of the Koryo period (918–1392). The design of inlaid chrysanthemums was also a popular motif on Koryo ceramics.

The vase was made at the Yatsushiro kilns situated in Kumamoto Prefecture on the western island of Kyushu. This area has a long history of contact with the Korean peninsular. During Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597, Korean potters were brought to Kyushu, where they helped to develop the local ceramic industry.
Bibliographic reference
Augustus Wollaston Franks and M. Shioda, Japanese Pottery. [London]: Chapman & Hall Ltd., 1880. South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks; 18. Catalogue number 147
Collection
Accession number
305-1877

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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