Page 34 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

In the second half of the fifteenth century, as the number of buncheong kilns decreased
throughout the country and the quality of their products declined because the kilns were no longer
under government supervision, new decorative techniques appeared. The reasons for this can be
summed up in four major points. The first concerns the alleviation of the pressure to substitute
ceramics for metalware. Whereas the government had strictly prohibited the use of metalware in
the first half of the fifteenth century, in the latter half gold and silver were exempted from the
tribute destined for Ming China. In addition, the government’s attempt to convert to bronze coins
as currency had failed. The consequence of these two factors was that the state’s demand for
metalware decreased, regulations became less strict than before, and, as a result, there was no
longer an urgent need to produce ceramics as substitutes for metalware.
Second, once the official court kilns started furnishing porcelain to the court and government
offices, buncheong was no longer requested as tribute from the regions. As a result, production
decreased; the buncheong kilns turned to making everyday items for local and regional consumers.
Third, following the establishment of the Bunwon porcelain kilns, the Joseon government
restricted the private manufacture and consumption of porcelain in order to reinforce the social
hierarchy and as a sumptuary measure to contain extravagance. This prohibition only increased the
desire for porcelain, however, thereby contributing to a decline in the quality and quantity of
buncheong production, but also providing the impetus for buncheong potters to seek ever more
creative modes of decoration.
Fourth, the political stability and economic prosperity of the late fifteenth century stimulated
lavish spending by all social classes. As an example, in the 1470s elites and commoners alike illegally
imported and used cobalt-blue-painted porcelain from Ming China. This increased demand for
luxury contributed to a fundamental shift in the consumers’ perception of buncheong ware. 22

the relationshiP between bunCheonG and Por Celain
As we have seen, the development of porcelain and the increase in its popularity and manufac-
ture were instrumental in the changes in the character of buncheong. The court and the yangban
elites who had used buncheong ware with inlaid or stamped decoration immediately after the
establishment of the Joseon dynasty began employing porcelain instead. In 1445, Kim Jong-seo,
a renowned scholar and commander, praised the refinement of porcelain produced in Goryeong,
Gyeongsang Province. In 1447, Yi Seon, an official of the Gaeseong bureau, was punished for
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secretly obtaining porcelain from Jeolla Province. Only a limited amount of porcelain was produced
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during this period, while buncheong ware, in particular the refined stamp-decorated type, was
enjoying a great flowering. Still, there was continuous demand for porcelain, and by the early 1460s
the Joseon state was deeply engaged in finding domestic cobalt to produce blue-and-white porcelain

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