Page 81 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

design MoTifs

The iconography of buncheong ware encompasses animals mundane (fish) and mythical (dragons);
such classic Asian flora as lotuses, peonies, and chrysanthemums; and geometric or other
abstract designs unique to this ceramic genre. For each motif there is a variety of styles, sometimes
dependent on the decorative technique. Comparisons with similar elements on other types of
ceramics or objects, such as inlaid celadon, metalwork, and lacquer, help elucidate buncheong’s
unique qualities, as well as its connections to other media. In tandem with the decorative techniques
discussed above, the pictorial subjects on the vessels inform both the character and the enduring
appeal of buncheong, though much remains to be discovered about their specific symbolic
significance during the early Joseon period.

WItty takeS on Standard Iconography
dragons and dragon-fish
The dragon first appears on Korean ceramics about the early twelfth century as incised decoration
on Goryeo celadon. All known buncheong examples with dragons are executed in the inlay tech-
nique. It is intriguing that there is no iron-painted buncheong with dragon motifs, given that brush
painting could have offered the ideal format for fluid renderings of this beast-in-motion. Akin to the
dragon is a water creature that can best be described as a dragon-fish; it retains some of the
features of a caricatured dragon — such as the long-snouted face with bulging eyes — yet, overall, its
body has turned into a fish, complete with scales, fins, and a forked tail.

Figure 2.7 Detail of catalogue 2

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