Cleveland Museum of Art

Jar with Stamped Decoration

Date

1400s

Medium

stoneware with incised design, white slip, and overglaze

Culture

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

Department

Korean Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This small jar may have been used as a container for powdered tea among Japanese tea drinkers. Possibly produced in one of the kilns established by the trading office (Waegwan) in Busan, southern Gyeongsang province, it was sold to Japanese tea bowl collectors. According to a historical record dated to 1641, one trading boat shipped more than 14,000 tea bowls to Japan. This little jar was part of the gift donated by John L. Severance (1863–1936). He and his father Louis H. Severance (1838–1913) collected Korean ceramics of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) from a number of pioneering medical missionaries as a way to foster their activities in Korea, and later donated them to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

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