Page 67 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

decoraTive Techniques

Compared with the sleek look of contemporary white porcelain, the organic and textural appearance
of buncheong ceramics seems almost rugged. This effect is achieved by the application of white
slip on the relatively coarse gray clay body and of additional decoration ranging from stamped
patterns to painted images executed with a brush. Radically transforming the established tradition
of inlaid celadon from the Goryeo dynasty, the more experimental ware that is buncheong occupies
a unique class of ceramic art. The following section will explore the seven primary modes, or tech-
niques, of surface design — the key to appreciating the aesthetic appeal of buncheong ceramics.

InlaId and Stamp-patterned deSIgnS

Inlaid metalwork and lacquer have a long history in Korean art; the decorative method predates
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and likely influenced the use of inlay on ceramics. By the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), both inlaid
metalwork and lacquer had reached an extraordinarily high degree of aesthetic and technical
sophistication (see fig 2.4); inlaid celadon shares features with these long-established media (see
fig. 2.5). A distinctively Korean form of art, inlaid celadon exploits the full potential of design and
color: the delicate motifs rendered in white and black beneath the green glaze attain a refined
elegance different from Chinese celadons, for example, as well as from other decorated ceramics
around the world, which are typically embellished by painting the surface with mineral pigments
or overglaze enamels.

Figure 2.4 Covered box. Korean, Goryeo dynasty Figure 2.5 Detail of melon-shaped ewer with
(918–1392); 10th–12th century. Lacquer inlaid with decoration of chrysanthemums and lotus flowers. Korean,
mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell over pigment; brass Goryeo dynasty (918–1392); first half of the 13th century.
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wire, H. 1 5 ⁄8 in. (4.1 cm), L. 4 in. (10.2 cm). The Celadon with inlaid design, H. 9 ⁄4 in. (23.5 cm), Diam.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fletcher 9 ⁄8 in. (25.1 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
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Fund, 1925 (25.215.41a, b) New York, Rogers Fund, 1913 (13.195.1a, b)

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