Pear-Shaped Bottle

Subject Matter:

This type of bronze bottle would be used as wine or liquid container.

Physical Description:

This is known as a pear shaped bottle vase with widely everted mouth, narrow neck that makes it easy to grasp and a round globular body that is bottom heavy. Five lines encircle the body and neck. Under part of body is damaged a lot. The foot is rather high.

Many bronze bottles such as the above two have been excavated from Goryeo tombs built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries along with celadon vessels. This type of bottle with a long neck and widely flared mouth was also produced in celadon during the Goryeo period. The surfaces of both bottles are severely rusted, while the lower part of the bottles are damaged and perforated. The bottles have five rideges formed by attaching folded copper sheets. The foot of each bottle was made separately from a separate sheet of metal and attached later.

[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017), 243]

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