Accession Number
2004/1.220

Title
Bowl with Chrysanthemum Design

Artist(s)
Korean

Artist Nationality
Korean (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
10th century - 11th century

Medium & Support
stoneware with incised decoration under celadon glaze

Dimensions
2 11/16 x 6 15/16 x 6 15/16 in. (6.8 x 17.5 x 17.5 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Bruce and Inta Hasenkamp and Museum purchase made possible by Elder and Mrs. Sang-Yong Nam

Label copy
The confident, freehand drawing in the incised designs of Goryeo celadons is one of their great assets. Like the bowls with paired phoenix birds in this same case, this work is decorated with an incised pattern made by drawing in the still-soft clay with a pointed wooden stick. For this technique to be effective, the glaze must be thin and perfectly even. Only in Korea was this achieved.
This bowl is very similar in shape and design to one in a private Korean collection that was featured in the exhibition 5000 Years of Korean Arts in Japan in 1976.
Maribeth Graybill, The Enduring Art of the Korean Potter, December 12, 2004-November 6, 2005

Subject matter
Tea bowl with chrysanthemum design.

Physical Description

This bowl is typical of early-Goryeo celadon in terms of shape and pattern. Similar examples have been excavated from sedimentary layers from the Kiln no. 10 at Yongun-ri, Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do. The entire inner wall is decorated with chrysanthemum sprays incised in fine lines. Chrysanthemum spray design is commonly found in Goryeo celadon produced between the 10th and the 11th centuries along with the motifs of chrysanthemum, scroll, cloud, parrot, and wave. The design is resemblent to those found in Yue ware, but the clay and glaze were sintered better and the glaze was exquisitely fused to turn into the beautiful color without crackles. Six refractory spurs were used to support the bowl during firing. The bowl was restored after a breakage into two halves.
[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2014) p.92]

Stoneware bowl with celadon glaze. The bowl is decorated by an incised line stretching parallel to the rim, bounding a chrysanthemum design below.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
bowl

Additional Object Classification(s)
Decorative Arts

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
bowls (vessels)
celadon (glaze)
ceramics (object genre)
incising
stoneware (pottery)