Page 119 - Symbols_of_Identity_Korean_Ceramics_from the Chang Collection
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his doughnut-shaped water dropper has a hole that goes
Tthrough the center of the vessel. The cobalt blue painting
of a scene of mountains and water on the top is outlined in
dark blue and filled in with a lighter blue wash. The spout of
the brush washer is located in the top edge of the vessel, and
the venting hole is located on the top surface of the opposite
side. On the side of the water dropper are written the Chinese
characters meaning “sky” (Kr: cheon, Ch: tiān), “one” (Kr: il,
100. Ch: yī), “to be born” (Kr: saeng, Ch: shēng), and “water” (Kr:
Water dropper su, Ch: shuĭ). The base is glazed, and the footrim is unglazed.
19th–early 20th century, Joseon
TL results: fired between 250 & 350 years ago The scene depicted on this water dropper is one that is com-
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt decoration monly depicted on small scholars’ articles produced at the
H: 3.5 cm, W: 8.5 cm (with spout) Bunwon kilns during the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. The official kilns moved to the banks of the scenic
Han River in 1752. Objects painted with a scene of the river
were often sold to and commissioned by learned sightseers
1
traveling along the river. The writing on the side refers to a
passage in the ancient Daoist text, the “Classic of Changes”
(Ch: Yì Jīng, Kr: Yeok Kyeong), and reveals that water was
the first creation by heaven.
1 Gompertz, Korean Pottery and Porcelain of the Yi Period, 22.
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