The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Box and Cover with Inlaid Chrysanthemum and Insect Design

918–1392

Korea, Goryeo dynasty

(918–1392)
Celadon with inlaid design
Body: 2.2 x 8.7 cm (7/8 x 3 7/16 in.); Overall: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)
Gift of John L. Severance 1928.165
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This ceramic container was used to store either incense or cosmetics.

Description

Celadons, spoons, seals, and bronze mirrors were the most common burial objects in tombs during the Goryeo period (918-1392). Once used to contain colored powder, rouge, and eyebrow gel for makeup, this small container was one of the standard goods that furnished elites' tombs. Both women and men used the grain powder of rice or millet for whitening their skin, safflower extract for rouge, and plant ash or soot for eyebrow gel. Yet, natural-looking make-up seems to have been the most favorable one in Korean according to the travelogue by Xu Jing (1091-1153), the Chinese diplomat who visited Korea in 1123.
  • (Dr. A. I. Ludlow, Cleveland).
  • Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
    Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
    Lee, Young-hee. "The Study on Techniques and their Interrelations among Craft Arts of the Goryeo Dynasty [고려시대 공예기법 연구 상호관련성을 중심으로]." Misulsa hakbo 22 (2004): 133-170. www.dbpia.co.kr
    A Chinese traveler in medieval Korea : Xu Jing's illustrated account of the Xuanhe embassy to Koryo. Translated by Sem Vermeersch. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2016.
    Sparkles of Jade: Goryeo Celadon [高麗青磁 : ヒスイのきらめき]. Ōsaka: Ōsaka: Shiritsu Tōyō Tōji Bijutsukan, 2018.
  • {{cite web|title=Box and Cover with Inlaid Chrysanthemum and Insect Design|url=false|author=|year=918–1392|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1928.165