Bowl: C.77-1984

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unknown

Entities

• Bowl

Categories

• Stoneware
• Celadon

Description

Bowl with ducks, willows and reeds design. Stoneware, thrown, inlaid in black and white slip and celadon-glazed. Koryo Dynasty, inscribed with a cyclical date corresponding to 1332. This hemispherical bowl has a slightly incurved rim, the centre is recessed to reduce the thickness of the body and prevent cracks during firing. In this centre the cyclical date imsin is inscribed in black slip inlay, enclosed by a band of lotus petals and concentric rings in white slip. The main motif, shows pairs of ducks swimming among willows and clusters of reeds, all naively rendered in black and white slip inlay, with a white scroll border at the rim. The outside is similar to the preceding example. The celadon glaze is greyish-green and glossy, and the body is fairly thick. On the base are quartzite spurs-marks.

Notes

History note: Formerly in the collection of Sekino Tadashi

Legal notes

Gompertz Gift

Place(s) associated

• Kangjin-gun ⪼ South Cholla province ⪼ Korea

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1984) by Gompertz, G. St. G. M., Mr and Mrs

Dating

Koryo Dynasty
14th Century
Production date: circa AD 1332

Note

Until recently scholars have generally followed Nomori Ken's attribution (see documentation) of celadons inlaid with the cyclical date imsin to the year 1272, but the date of 1332, in the following sixty-year cycle, seems more likely.