Vase with Inlaid Lotus, Plum, and Bamboo Design

청자 상감 연꽃·매화·대나무무늬 편호 [靑磁象嵌蓮梅竹文扁壺]

1300s

Korea, Goryeo dynasty

(918–1392)

Medium

celadon with inlaid design

Measurements

Overall: 30.3 cm (11 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of John L. Severance 1918.471

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Location

236 Korean

Did You Know?

The decor that adorns this flask was done in the inlay technique, a method that fills engraved designs with either white or black soil.

Description

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.