Page 96 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

the formS of flo WerS
lotuses
Since the adoption of Buddhism on the Korean peninsula, at least as far back as the fourth century,
the lotus has been associated with this religion and its deities. It became a ubiquitous element on the
pedestal upon which a Buddha or bodhisattva sits or stands and on the roof tiles of Buddhist
temples. Buddhism, the state religion, exerted significant influence in Goryeo society and culture,
and the lotus flower continued to serve both as an enduring religious symbol and as ornamentation.
This flower figures quite frequently on Goryeo celadon, most of which was used not for ritual purposes
but as tableware; it is unclear whether or to what extent these designs held explicitly Buddhist
connotations. In the early Joseon period, when the political establishment suppressed Buddhism
18
in favor of Confucianism, the religious value of the motif of the lotus waned on ceramics as the
19
popularity of buncheong increased.
The entire lotus plant, from its exquisite blossoms to its elaborate leaves, makes for arresting
designs on buncheong vessels. The stages of the opening lotus flower, from promising bud to fully
opened, flamboyant bloom, are explored on a fifteenth-century maebyeong (cat. 47). Inlaid white
petals, made even more beautiful and dramatic by inlaid black outlines, form the striking center of
the multilayered overall pattern on the vessel. A contrasting decorative technique is employed on a
contemporary bowl (cat. 48). In the center, the single lotus flower is rendered in reverse inlay, that
is, the outlines of the petals and the background space have been filled in with white slip, leaving
the half-open lotus bud and stem to emerge in negative space. Both of these examples illustrate
buncheong’s debt to inlaid celadon, as well as its adventurous departure from that model.
A bottle from the same period embodies the early buncheong aesthetic (cat. 49). The decora-
tion of spare vignettes, rendered in inlaid lines beneath a strong greenish glaze, focuses on key
motifs and seems to hew to buncheong’s inlaid-celadon antecedent. The intention and effect of the
design, however, are wholly divergent from those of Goryeo celadon and convey the very spirit
of buncheong. Here, the lotus is articulated only through its distinctively shaped leaves, with nary a
blossom in sight; it is reduced to its contours and devoid of descriptive details. Like the bowl cited
above (cat. 48), this example captures the very essence of the plant through formal minimalism.

81