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. The foot is rather high.

Bronze bottles, bowls, plates and cutlery were placed as burial ware in Goryeo tombs along with celadon vessels. This bottle has traces of being splashed by muddy water, thus it is assumed to have been excavated from a tomb. This type of bottle with a long neck and flared mouth was also made in celadon in large quantities. The bottle is decorated with three ridges, and between the ridges are incised three thin lines. The mouth was made by folding the metal sheet inwards and joining the folds. The vertical foot has been attached separately. The entire bottle is covered by a thin patina, and part of its body has been ruptured. It, however, retains its original form and has been preserved well. Part of one side, which has been in contact with earth, is more decayed than the rest. There are traces of deliberate scraping on some parts of the outer surface.

[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017), 242]

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