Cleveland Museum of Art

Bowl with White-slip Decorations

Date

1500s–1600s

Medium

glazed stoneware

Culture

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

Department

Korean Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This type of wide-mouthed bowl was used every day in Korea, not exclusively for tea drinking. But when it was introduced to Japan around the early 1500s, its imperfect appearance, which evokes the aesthetics of wabi-sabi , caused it to be repurposed as a tea bowl. Korean tea bowls were circulated as a item of foreign luxury among Japanese military elites. Many Korean potters were abducted during the Japanese invasions (1592–98). Some settled there, and ended up leading the development of ceramic industry in Japan. This type of humble tea bowl was highly praised among Japanese collectors for its imperfect beauty.

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