Tea Bowl

분청사기 완 (粉靑沙器碗)

1600s
Diameter of mouth: 14.6 cm (5 3/4 in.); Overall: 8.9 cm (3 1/2 in.)
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Did You Know?

For its imperfect aesthetics, this type of rustic tea bowl was highly appreciated among advanced Japanese practitioners of the tea ceremony.

Description

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, 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. This type of tea bowl may have been produced in one of the kilns established and operated by the trading office (Waegwan) in Busan, southern Gyeongsang province, as an export item for Japanese tea bowl collectors.
Tea Bowl

Tea Bowl

1600s

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

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