Celadon Ritual Ewer (Kundika) with Incised Peony and Arabesque Pattern

Xu Jing, an envoy during the Song Dynasty in China who visited Korea in the year 1123, wrote that Kundikas were used by nobles, officials, Taoist priests and monks in Buddhist temples, and commoners as vessels for water. Monks in Buddhist temples used the Kundika as a ritual vessel for offering pure water to the Buddha. Images of the Kundika are depicted in paintings and included in the sculpture of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Mercy.