Page 119 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

This new style had a great impact on domestic ceramic wares throughout Japan, including those
made by captured Korean potters, like the Karatsu and Takatori wares of Kyushu. Moreover, though
the leadership and tastes of the tea world would continue to evolve through the Edo period, Oribe’s
singular look would reemerge at different periods and in different types of ceramics — including as
seventeenth-century tea bowls made in Korea for export to Japan.
Beyond ceramics like buncheong ware, which were produced for domestic use within Joseon
Korea but also made their way to Japan, there existed a category of made-to-order ceramics produced
in Korea to Japanese specifications and meant solely for Japanese consumption. Referred to as
Gohon Korai jawan, this tea ware, which comprised mostly bowls, was made between 1639 and 1718
at the Busan kilns, which operated within the Japan House in Busan, a center of trade and diplomacy.
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The Busan-kiln potters used clay from all over Gyeongsang Province; the kilns were operated
by Tsushima Province, and a manager was dispatched from there. Practitioners of chanoyu, rather
than potters, oversaw the manufactory. The Gohon tea bowls made there reflect the tastes and
demands of the So clan, the ruling family of Tsushima, who controlled not only the kilns but all
Korean–Japanese trade through the Japan House in Busan; more broadly, the export ceramics made
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in Busan reflect the look and ritual of the Edo-period daimyo tea world. The tea bowls produced
at the Busan kilns show a range of decorative styles, including inlaid designs that are revivals of the
earlier buncheong idiom. These are clearly not attempts to copy an earlier style but rather reformu-
lations and adaptations of an antique expression that embodies the tastes of Edo Japan (see fig. 3.5).

Figure 3.5 Tea bowl. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910); kiln in operation ca. 1639–1718.
Stoneware with stamped design and brushed white slip (Busan kiln, Gohon type; export ware),
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1
1
H. 2 ⁄8–3 ⁄8 in. ( 7.3–7.8 cm), Diam. of rim 5 ⁄8–6 ⁄4 in. (14.3–15.8 cm),
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1
Diam. of foot 2 ⁄2 in. (6.3 cm). Nezu Museum, Tokyo
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