Korean celadon-glazed melon shaped ewer

An image of Ewer and cover. Sadang-ri or Yuch'on-ri ware. Possibly North Cholla province, Puan-gun, Yuch'on-ri kilns. Possibly South Cholla province, Kangjin-gun, Sadang-ri kilns. Melon-shaped ewer and cover with lotus design. The body is twelve-lobed, has a well-formed spout, a handle with a double loop, and a flower-shaped cover, also with a loop. It has a shallow footring. The ewer is incised around the rim and the base with bands of double lotus petals, and each of the twelve lobes is decorated with a precisely engraved lotus spray. The lid is incised with a scroll motif on each lobe. The glaze has a clear, pale green celadon tone, with a fine crackle evenly covering the whole surface. The footring, from which the glaze had been wiped before firing, shows four large fire-clay spur-marks. Stoneware, thrown, with parts attached, indented, incised and celadon-glazed, height, whole, 19.8 cm, diameter, rim, 3.5 cm, diameter, foot, 9.2 cm, circa 1100-1200. Koryo Dynasty. Notes: This type of melon-shaped ewer, which has a typical Koryo form, was used for wine. Melon-shaped qingbai ewers from Jingdezhen have been excavated from Koryo tombs, and the numerous Koryo examples were clearly inspired by such Chinese prototypes.

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Ewer and cover. Sadang-ri or Yuch'on-ri ware. Possibly North Cholla province, Puan-gun, Yuch'on-ri kilns. Possibly South Cholla province, Kangjin-gun, Sadang-ri kilns. Melon-shaped ewer and cover with lotus design. The body is twelve-lobed, has a well-formed spout, a handle with a double loop, and a flower-shaped cover, also with a loop. It has a shallow footring. The ewer is incised around the rim and the base with bands of double lotus petals, and each of the twelve lobes is decorated with a precisely engraved lotus spray. The lid is incised with a scroll motif on each lobe. The glaze has a clear, pale green celadon tone, with a fine crackle evenly covering the whole surface. The footring, from which the glaze had been wiped before firing, shows four large fire-clay spur-marks. Stoneware, thrown, with parts attached, indented, incised and celadon-glazed, height, whole, 19.8 cm, diameter, rim, 3.5 cm, diameter, foot, 9.2 cm, circa 1100-1200. Koryo Dynasty. Notes: This type of melon-shaped ewer, which has a typical Koryo form, was used for wine. Melon-shaped qingbai ewers from Jingdezhen have been excavated from Koryo tombs, and the numerous Koryo examples were clearly inspired by such Chinese prototypes.

Image data

Accession Number: C.60 & A-1984
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/19.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 899 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
Filesize: 253.82kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 19/1
Captured: 2013:04:17 21:52:50

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            "Korean celadon-glazed melon shaped ewer"
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