Accession Number
1977/1.195

Title
Small blue-and-white jar with abstracted plant design

Artist(s)
Korean

Artist Nationality
Korean (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
early 20th century

Medium & Support
porcelain with blue underglaze painting

Dimensions
2 13/16 x 3 5/16 x 3 5/16 in. (7 x 8.3 x 8.3 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Caroline I. Plumer for the James Marshall Plumer Collection

Subject matter
This kind of oil bottle can be seen from Union Silla and has various shapes. Small bottle is usually used to store the oil mixing the cosmetics. Bigger bottle is used to store the oil for skin beauty care or hair oil.

Physical Description
This bottle has a slightly out-turned astragal mouth. Short slender neck and a bulbous body that is rather heavy. The whole foot is rather high and thick. The body is decorated with a simple abstract floral design in cobalt-blue pigment.

Small bottles with short necks were generally used as containers of perfumed oil or precious liquids. This is a small oil bottle decorated with semi-abstract foliage design in cobalt blue. The foot shows no trace of kiln spurs, while the foot rim is unglazed and reveals the clay body. The colour of the cobalt pigment and the way it has been fired suggest that this bottle was produced in the early 20th century.The lower part of the body was slightly contaminated, but the bottle remains intact.
[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2014) p.175]

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
bottle

Additional Object Classification(s)
Decorative Arts

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
bottles
ceramic (material)
flower (motif)
foliage (motif)
porcelain (visual works)