Page 35 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

Figure 1.8 Flask-shaped bottle.
Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910);
late 15th–early 16th century. Porcelain,
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H. 10 ⁄2 in. (26.7 cm), Diam. 7 ⁄8 in.
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(20 cm), Diam. of mouth 2 3 ⁄8 in. (6 cm),
Diam. of foot 2 ⁄2–3 ⁄8 in. (6.2–9.9 cm).
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7
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul

that could rival the exquisite products of Ming China. Porcelain achieved a high level of sophisti-
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cation following the establishment of the official court kilns at Bunwon, where both undecorated
white porcelain and cobalt-painted porcelain were manufactured. The latter, especially, was
intended for the exclusive use of the royal court. However, the demand for porcelain increased
even among the general population, to the point that in the 1470s the smuggling of Chinese
polychrome porcelain became a social problem.
The popularity of porcelain, embodied in the establishment of the Bunwon kilns, and the
fact that buncheong ware was no longer required as regional tribute affected all aspects of this
stoneware, including its character, quality, shape, decorative techniques and motifs, and manufac-
turing sites and consumers. Buncheong adopted new decorative techniques and motifs to cater
to the tastes of local consumers. These newly developed modes included incised or carved and
sgraffito-decorated designs in Jeolla Province, iron-painted designs in Chungcheong Province, and
sparsely or roughly stamped designs in Gyeongsang Province. In contrast to the contemporary porce-
lain produced at Bunwon, epitomized by a late fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century flask-shaped
bottle (fig. 1.8), with its smooth surface and sharp edges, buncheong ware embodied an entirely
idiosyncratic aesthetic, as demonstrated by a similarly shaped fifteenth-century bottle, where
the emphasis is on a slightly irregular shape and a freely executed, playful design (cat. 11).

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