Page 422 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

shoulder and covering the neck and mouth inte- 273
rior is a dense mesh-like ground, produced by
stamping the clay surface all over with a patterned BOTTLE
die or a piece of woven material, then rubbing or 15th century
brushing the stamped surface with white slip. Korean
Finally the vessel was covered with glaze and punching ware with impressed and slip-inlaid
fired. decoration
5
Potters active during the early Choson period height 26.8 (io /s)
(1392-1910, also called the Yi dynasty for the sur- references: Kim and Gompertz 1961, pi. 82;
name of the ruling family) inherited a rich Gompertz 1968, 25-42
ceramic tradition from their predecessors of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul
Koryo period (918-1392) who had distinguished
themselves creating exquisite, highly refined, Pear-shaped bottles like this one—with slender
consummately graceful celadon wares. The term neck and gracefully everted lip—were quite popu-
celadon refers to high-fired ceramics covered with lar during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
a muted green glaze —the color resulting when in China and particularly popular during the fif-
iron oxide in the glaze was fired in an oxygen- teenth century in Korea, where numerous exam-
deprived, or reducing, atmosphere. Although the ples were produced in a variety of wares. The
basic techniques of celadon manufacture and present piece owes its special attractiveness in
decoration had been learned from the Chinese, large part to finely balanced and evocative propor-
Koryo potters modified their ceramic models and tions. Such features as its full, swelling body, its
invented and perfected the inlaid-slip technique low center of gravity, and the firm and steady
for celadon decoration. The resulting coloristic anchoring provided by the low ring-foot produce a
and graphic effects contrasted with the monochro- strong impression of ripeness and plentitude, sta-
matic carved celadons of the Chinese tradition. bility and strength. Surface adornment is present
The carefree and somewhat slapdash technique
of the form.
does not compete with the beauty
evident in the present piece reflects the deteriora- but The impressed and slip-inlaid mesh pattern is a
tion that had beset the potters' art in Korea perfect wrapping for the vessel, and the glaze,
during the last century of Koryo rule, a deteriora- while providing a high gloss, is neutral in color
tion believed to have originated with the Mongol
272 and also visually passive. Great care, however, was
invasion of Korea in 1231 and the subsequent
TALL JAR weakening of the Koryo state and spirit. Yet, exercised in the decoration; this is evident in the
fastidiously reserved narrow band, free
of slip,
for all its technical and artistic gaucherie, the
early i$th century approach and aesthetic here reflect a fresh vigor, encircling the neck and in the balance between
Korean robustness, and vitality which are the hallmarks of impressed floret bands at the lip and on the foot.
punching ware with incised, impressed, and slip- Choson ceramic style. Coarse body fabric, heavy These flowers resemble small chrysanthemum
inlaid decoration blossoms seen from above, hence the term chry-
5
height 49.7 fi9 /sj potting, emphasis on slip decoration, and a thin santhemum-head pattern, a pattern sometimes
references: Gompertz 1968, 25-42; Rhee 1978, transparent glaze that is not a true celadon color employed as an overall body design.
3:p/.2 are characteristics of Choson period stoneware.
Punch'ong, as this ware is called, is a shortened
National Museum of Korea, Seoul form of the term punjang hoi ch'ong sagi f
"powder-dressed gray-green ceramics" —
This imposing gray-bodied stoneware vessel has "powder-dressed" referring to the slip decoration
an approximately cylindrical body, which narrows and "gray-green" reflecting the celadon ancestry.
only slightly in its descent from high shoulders to Transitional between typical Koryo and Choson
broad base. The short neck widens to the everted wares in technique, the present piece seems tran-
mouth rim, and the surface is fully decorated sitional in shape as well: between the popular
from the area inside the mouth down to the base. Koryo type of tall, high-shouldered, small-
Primary motifs in the complex design are mar- mouthed bottle called maebyong (from the
shalled into broad horizontal zones separated by Chinese mei-ping f "prunus vase," a term used for
narrower scroll-filled borders. Four pendent wine containers) and the broader, larger-mouthed
panels on the shoulder — an arrangement called a Choson period jar. The decoration, both motifs
"cloud collar" for its resemblance to the collars of and composition, was borrowed wholesale from a
princely Mongol dress —are filled with stylized fourteenth century Chinese blue-and-white por-
waves and floating blossoms. Two dragons stride celain vessel. However, in the Korean version, the
across cloud-flecked skies in the zone below, dragon has acquired a note of humor and whimsy
and a fence of upright lotus-petal panels encircles which, along with the more casual workmanship,
the base. demonstrates a significantly independent attitude
The designs were produced by incising the clay toward the model. M. A.R.
with a sharply pointed instrument and filling the
depressions with slip (clay diluted with water).
Here both white and dark-colored slip were used.
Forming the backdrop for the cloud collar on the

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