Buncheong Flat Bottle with Sgraffito Lotus and Fish Design

Apart from a few cases, the date of production for most buncheong vessel is not clearly known. But based on the research so far, the stages of development have been roughly mapped out. The early inlaid buncheong wares gave way to stamped buncheong. This was followed by buncheong with sgraffito designs and then buncheong with incised desgins. Next camebuncheong brushed with slip or dipped in slip, then buncheong painted with underglaze iron-brown, after which stage buncheong ware disappeared altogether.The sgraffito technique can be described as the opposite of inlaying in that background to the design is scraped away to reveal the grey body underneath. Major motifs expressed in sgraffito are plants such as peonies, floral scrolls and lotus blossoms, and animals such as fish and birds. The major shapes were flasks, bowls, and wide-mouthed jars. The Buncheong Flask with Sgraffito Fish and Lotus Design, which served as the funerary jar of the monk GobongHwasang, who passed away in 1428, was found enshrined in the pagoda at Songgwangsa Temple. From this it can be surmised that sgraffito was a technique used actively on buncheong ware in the mid-15th century. While the bottle is pressed in like a flask, the surface is not totally flattened while the sides are round and voluminous. It is not symmetrical and has a sense of instability, and the mouth is somewhat small. The body is made of light brown clay and the whole surface, except for the neck and mouth, is covered in slip. However, as the slip is not thickly applied, the clay body underneath shows in several places.The slip does not sufficiently cover the lower part of the body, and marks from the brush used to apply it still remain. The glaze is translucent but a little dark and thickly applied, and crackling can be seen all over the surface. The pattern sections are marked with double incised lines, the front and back of the bottle forming circles filled with a sgraffito design of lotus petals, lotus blossoms, and fish. Unlike the flask that is National Treasure No.178, the design is not a sketchy depiction of lotus shapes but a more detailed expression of the lotus motifs. The whole surface is fully used, lotus blossoms all over with lotus leaves and fish in between, creating a close and very full design. On the shoulder just below the mouth is a band of lotus blossoms, while the sides are divided into three sections with a lotus motif in the top and middle and a lotus band in the bottom.While similar in shape to National Treasure No. 178, the clay body, application of the slip, the glaze, decorative techniques, and expression are all different. In particular, the refined expression and arrangement of the design show a great difference. Hence the two flasks are good examples of different directions reflected in art works produced around the same time.