Page 102 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

conceptual deSIgn, expreSSIonIS t manner
Scroll motifs
The movement of the artist’s hand can most readily be perceived in the iron-painted works. Brush
and pigment collaborated to create some of the boldest and most dramatic images in buncheong.
Abstractly rendered scrolling vines are a frequently employed decorative motif on iron-painted
examples (see cat. 52), at times approaching complete nonrepresentation, but emphasizing instead
the calligraphic movements of the brush (see cat. 53). Such designs stressing gesture and expres-
sive abstraction may even remind modern viewers of the works of mid-twentieth-century artists
such as Robert Motherwell or Franz Kline. Many of the painted designs of this group might appear
artless at first glance but they are sophisticated in their economy of design; a late fifteenth- or
early sixteenth-century bottle offers a stunning instance (cat. 54). This bottle is typical of the
iron-painted buncheong manufactured at the kilns of Goheung Undaeri in Jeolla Province, one of
the few manufactories other than the Hakbong-ri kilns to have ventured into this mode of decora-
tion. Unlike the products of the Hakbong-ri kilns, on which the white slip is brushed over most but
usually not all the vessel, and which exhibit confident, energetic designs, this bottle is entirely
covered in milky white slip and displays delicate tracery.

Catalogue 52 Bowl with floral scroll decoration. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910); late 15th–early 16th century.
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Buncheong with iron-painted design, H. 3 ⁄2 in. (8.7 cm), Diam. of rim 7 ⁄4 in. (18.2 cm), Diam of foot 2 in. (5 cm).
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul

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