Shallow Buncheong ware bowl with rope curtain and chrysanthemum design
Korean
Description
The surface ornamentation of Buncheong ware of the Joseon period was achieved by manipulating white slip (liquid clay) on a clay body to achieve surface ornamentation. Using a pointed wooden tool, the artist combined inlaid, stamped, and brushed decoration. The interior of this bowl is inlaid with three chrysanthemum florets and lotus petals using a pointed wooden tool. A wooden stamp carved with a row of circles was pressed repeatedly into the curve of the inside wall, creating a dense rope–curtain pattern. The artist incised lines to demarcate the zones of decoration. After incising and stamping, the interior was filled with white slip and wiped clean. White slip was brushed quickly over the exterior, leaving brush patterns called hakeme in Japanese. The entire vessel was then thinly coated with glaze and fired. Three scars on the interior indicate that the bowl was fired in a stack in the kiln, a process that allowed for larger-scale production. Buncheong ware was widely appreciated in Japan, where these scars would become points of appraisal and debate among connoisseurs of tea wares.
(Label for UMMA Korean Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
Subject Matter:
Bowl with chrysanthemum florets, rope curtain design, and stylized lotus petals.
Physical Description:
Shallow stoneware bowl with white slip and colorless glaze. The interior is decorated with a stamped rope-curtain pattern, incised bands of lines and a repeating stylized lotus petal pattern. In the center of the bowl lie three inlaid chrysanthemum florets. Three scars on the inside of the bowl indicate the piece was fired in a stack for large-scale production.
This dish is decorated with stamped design of rows of dots on the inner wall; white inlaid with chrysanthemums on the inner bottom; and in between them are stamped lotus petals. Its outer wall is brushed with white slip. The foot retains evenly spread traces of fine grains of sand. The glaze is well fused, producing a shiny surface, pale blue in colour and transparent. The form of the dish is relatively well-balanced and gives a sense of stability.
[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2014) p.149]
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