Cleveland Museum of Art

Vase with Inlaid Lotus, Plum, and Bamboo Design

Date

1300s

Medium

celadon with inlaid design

Culture

Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)

Department

Korean Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Flattened-shaped jars like this one started to appear around the late 1200s. Each of the flattened sides is decorated with an image of a lotus flower pond, enclosed in a lobed panel. The protruding sides, on the other hand, depict an image of bamboo trees and plum blossoms. This particular example seems to have been produced in the late 1300s, when the overall quality of techniques involved in making celadon works sharply deteriorated. In contrast to translucent greenish blue celadon works of the 1100s, this flask has a gray greenish glaze due to less refined clay. Furthermore, its rather roughly executed inlaid design shows a clear sign of decline in craftsmanship. Nevertheless, less attention to technical details gave way to a freer style pottery called buncheong in the succeeding centuries. The decor that adorns this flask was done in the inlay technique, a method that fills engraved designs with either white or black soil.

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