Jar with Plum, Bamboo and Bird Design in Underglaze Blue

Since its emergence as the main design of white porcelain in underglaze blue in the Yuan Dynasty of China, the pine, bamboo and plum design on porcelain gained great popularity during China’s Ming Dynasty. In Korea, the design appeared in late Goryo and greatly advanced, becoming the main pattern on white porcelain in underglaze blue during the early Joseon. Joseon preferred to combine plum, bamboo and pine in a variety of ways, such as plum and bamboo, pine and bamboo and pine and plum rather than the combination of plum, bamboo and pine. Among these, the plum and bamboo design was most preferred. This piece takes the typical form of the jars of early Joseon, in which the distinguished, dynamic poses and movements of four birds–including a bird drowsing against a fine bamboo and two plum boughs, a twittering bird, and a flying bird–were depicted in detail