Bottle with Plant Decoration
Maker
Unknown Artist
DateLate 15th - early 16th century
MediumGlazed stoneware (buncheong) with underglaze iron-oxide (jeolwha) decoration
DimensionsHeight: 12 in. (30.5 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, The Paul and Miriam Kirkley Fund for Acquisitions
Object number2004.3
Status
Not on viewThis type of Korean stoneware (cheolhwa buncheong) features visually striking iron-oxide designs, bold calligraphic drawing, and strong tonal effects between its dark silhouette-like imagery and pale body. To create these effects, the potter brushed a white slip (liquid clay) over the entire body of the gray stoneware vessel, then applied a design over the slip with iron pigment, which becomes dark brown to lacquer black after firing. This form of buncheong was produced at the foot of the Gyeryong Mountains in southern Korea. Gyeryong kilns are located below a Buddhist monastery, and the distinctive imagery found on these wares—including fish and fowl, lotus flowers, and, as here, fanciful flowering plants (possibly ginseng)—may have been inspired by the monochrome ink paintings of Korean Buddhist monks of the Seon (Zen, in Japan) sect.
Utagawa Yoshimori (歌川芳盛)
1871, 3rd month
circa 50 - 250
first half of 1st century
