Page 46 - Symbols_of_Identity_Korean_Ceramics_from the Chang Collection

he wide, funnel-like upper section of this receptacle is
Tshaped like a conical bowl. It has been luted at the short
neck to a slightly squashed, bulbous body. The footrim and
base are coated with the greenish-blue translucent glaze.
There are kiln scars left by clay pads on the footrim. Two
small, unglazed patches are located just above the footrim.

The design of this vessel was copied from contemporary
Chinese examples. Scholars of Chinese ceramics sometimes
suggest these vessels were used as spittoons or for disposing of
1
24. tea or wine dregs. Korean scholars usually narrow their func-
Waste receptacle tion down to being waste receptacles for the latter beverage
2
12th century, Goryeo only. However, there does not seem to be any definitive proof
Stoneware with celadon glaze for the exact use of this type of vessel. A similar receptacle,
H: 13 cm, W: 17.2 cm described by a modern scholar as a “celadon ritual wine emp-
tier,” has been discovered in the tomb of King Myeongjong
(r. 1170-1197, died in 1202) and now housed in the National
Museum of Korea, Seoul. It has an added spout inserted into
3
the body. The two unglazed patches above the footrim of the
vessel in this catalogue entry may be where fingers held the
vessel when it was dipped into the liquid glaze.

1 Robert D. Mowry, Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Brown- and Black-
glazed Ceramics, 400-1400 (Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, 1996), 92.

2 Kumja Paik Kim, The Art of Korea: Highlights from the Collection of San Francisco’s Asian Art
Museum (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum – Chong Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture,
2006), 92; Geon Choi, Togi Chengja [Stonewares and Celadons], Korean Art Book vol. I (Seoul:
Yekyoung, 2000), 180.

3 Lee Ae-ryung, “Chapter II: Ceramics from Goryeo Royal Tombs,” in Royal Ceramics of Goryeo
Dynasty, ed. Kwak Dong-seok (Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2009), 36, 41.
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