Page 100 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

peonies
As with the lotus, the treatment of the peony as a decorative motif underwent a marked trans-
formation in the transition from Goryeo celadon to buncheong, where its design potential was fully
exploited. The peony in full bloom on a fifteenth-century bottle is rendered in spare outlines, the
large, roughly executed blossom articulated mostly through incised undulating lines and a series
of small arcs that describe the unmistakable outlines of the peony’s petals (cat. 50). Unusually,
the background has been painted in iron-brown pigment over the white slip that covers the vessel,
causing the flowers to “pop” against the background. The style of the peony here is remarkably
similar to that of the same flower on a porcelain bottle in the Horim Museum (fig. 2.18), a rare example
of inlaid white porcelain produced in the first half of the fifteenth century, before the establishment
of the Bunwon kilns. The forms of the blossoms are nearly identical on the two bottles, but the
20
motif on the porcelain vessel is more simplified, a poetry of economy.

left: Catalogue 50 Bottle with peony
decoration. Korean, Joseon dynasty
(1392–1910); second half of the 15th century.
Buncheong with incised and iron-painted
design, H. 5 3 ⁄4 in. (14.4 cm), Diam. of mouth
2 3 ⁄8 in. (5.8 cm), Diam. of foot 3 ⁄8 in. ( 7.8 cm).
1
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul
above: Figure 2.18 Bottle with peony
decoration. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910);
first half of the 15th century. White porcelain
with inlaid design, H. 11 3 ⁄4 in. (29.6 cm). Horim
Museum, Seoul, National Treasure no. 807

85