Cleveland Museum of Art

Bowl with White-slip Decorations

Date

1600s

Medium

glazed ceramic

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 16th century, its imperfect appearance evoking 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. It's highly possibly this type of bowl was produced in one of the kilns operated by the trading office Busan in Southern Gyeongsang province, and exported to Japan. This type of rustic tea bowl was highly appreciated among advanced Japanese practitioners of the tea ceremony.

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