Page 53 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

have been driven as much by functionality and economy as by creative impulses. Nonetheless,
aesthetic considerations were important. That both artistic and economic considerations were at
play is evident in the early stages of production, during the first half of the fifteenth century, when
buncheong supplied not only local consumers but also the court. The decorative technique of
stamping was developed at this time in order to fulfill the greater demand (and therefore render
output more efficient), yet the best examples exhibit an appreciation for refinement and purity of
design. From just after the mid-fifteenth century, porcelain manufacture eroded the court’s stable
and wealthy patronage of the buncheong potters, who subsequently had to compete continually
with the porcelain kilns for consumer attention. The changing looks of the pots in response to
shifts in consumer makeup and tastes evidence buncheong’s creative explorations. These uniquely
inventive and inspired objects invite further study.
This essay takes a closer look at buncheong ware as a class of physical objects, at the way
they are constructed, and examines the strengths of the buncheong designs in three areas: form,
techniques of surface design, and decorative motifs. Buncheong shapes range from the staples of
everyday tableware, such as bowls, dishes, and bottles, to the unusual and fanciful, to a degree not
found in its foil, porcelain. Though made using the technologically advanced tool of the potter’s
wheel, buncheong has a tactile appearance that gives it a sensuous appeal. One sees and feels the
potter’s touch, as well as the materials from which the vessel was created. At its most basic and
literal level, this ceramic genre is defined by the extensive use of white slip, whether adorning select
areas or covering nearly the entire vessel. Buncheong design is characterized by its unconstrained,
experimental spirit and minimalist look, as exemplified by a fifteenth-century bottle with its elegantly
simple, almost abstract design of large and exuberant foliage barely contained within the boundaries
of the vessel’s contours (cat. 16). The bottle’s form is traditional; its overall effect is strikingly
unconventional. Moreover, these ceramics are fascinating because they defy simple dichotomies such
as utilitarian object vs. creative art; low-tech and individualist handicraft vs. highly finished
commercial product; rustic and naive decoration vs. what a twenty-first-century viewer might
consider contemporary, even avant-garde, style. This essay is also an exercise in deconstructing
the reception of these antique ceramics — how they affect the contemporary viewer.

opposite: Catalogue 16 Bottle with decoration of peony leaves. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910); second half of the 15th century.
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Buncheong with incised and sgraffito design, H. 12 ⁄8 in. (32.5 cm), Diam. of mouth 2 ⁄8 in. (6.7 cm), Diam. of foot 3 ⁄8 in. (8.5 cm).
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Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul
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