On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Oil Bottle

12th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Korea (made)

This small oil bottle has an angular mouth, and its body is curved in an acute angle to have the shape of a ginkgo fruit. The upper part of the body is adorned with two leafy patterns painted in underglaze iron brown in swift brushstokes, and the glaze takes on a greenish-brown tint. It is assumed that this oil bottle was produced at a kiln site in Gangjin in the late 12th century.

Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Porcelain
Object type
Oil bottle
Materials and techniques
Porcelain, thrown, painted in brown slip under celadon glaze
Celadon
Slip
Porcelain
Thrown
Painted
Glazed
Brief description
Oil bottle, porcelain painted in brown slip under a celadon glaze, Korea, Goryeo dynasty, late 12th century
Physical description
Oil bottle of flattened globular form, with two scrolling foliage on upper body painted in brown slip and covered with a crackled celadon glaze.
Dimensions
  • Height: 7cm
  • Diameter: 7.6cm
Style
Koryo
Gallery label
2. Three celadon cosmetic oil bottles
Late 12th century to early 14th century
Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
Cosmetic oil bottles made of stoneware were used as early as the Unified Silla period (676–935). During the Goryeo dynasty, these bottles were made of celadon and decorated with a variety of techniques such as iron-brown underglazes, incisions or inlays. Smaller bottles kept perfumed oil and oils for mixing into pigments for makeup, while the larger bottles stored hair oils. These oils were often pressed from apricot stones, castor seeds, and rice bran.
Plain, inlaid celadon and celadon with iron
brown underglaze
Museum no. C.560-1918 given by Mr Aubrey Le Blond
Museum nos. CIRC.26-1928, C.521-1918
Subject depicted
Scrolling Foliage
Summary
This small oil bottle has an angular mouth, and its body is curved in an acute angle to have the shape of a ginkgo fruit. The upper part of the body is adorned with two leafy patterns painted in underglaze iron brown in swift brushstokes, and the glaze takes on a greenish-brown tint. It is assumed that this oil bottle was produced at a kiln site in Gangjin in the late 12th century.
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
CIRC.26-1928

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdFebruary 3, 2000
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O21817/oil-bottle-unknown/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest