청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
Best Under Heaven
This Korean ewer, with its color, glaze, and surface cracks, represents the pinnacle of Goryeo-dynasty (918–1392) celadon production. The exceptional color of celadons such as this led Chinese connoisseur Taiping Laoren (active thirteenth century), to write that they were the "best under heaven."
The cylindrical body,
the sharp-angled flat shoulder,
and the looping, flat handle
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
accented with a crisp outline indicate that it took its shape from a metal prototype.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
The intricate lid, in the form of a double lotus, makes an effective contrast to the simple, unadorned body.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
Mysterious Color
Goryeo celadons are admired for their elegant shapes and elaborate decoration, but their color is the most exemplary feature. Phrases like “mysterious color” or “jade color” are commonly used, but they fail to adequately describe the unique grey-green and blue-green hues of Goryeo celadons. Scholars and potters today still seek to fully understand the exact methods used to create these distinctive colors.
Celadon Gallery, Room 21 (Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
Celadon color ranges widely as a consequence of different firing methods, materials, and environments.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
How Was It Made?
The blue-green surface of this ewer is lustrous—its hue was derived from the purest clay, perfect firing environment, and a thin, transparent application of glaze. The even application of glaze on the exterior, interior, and base indicates the care that went into making this vessel.
These elements, and the clean foot ring around the base, suggest that the artisans would have placed the ewer on its own in a single sagger. A sagger is a boxlike clay container that protects the ceramic during firing and was used to fire precious ceramics of high quality.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
What Was It Used For?
The Goryeo rulers established Buddhism as the state belief. Various types of celadon ware, including ewers and bowls, were used for Buddhist rituals. This fine ewer was probably made for aristocrats or a royal family. It likely contained liquid such as wine or water used during religious ceremonies. Similar existent ewers have basins, suggesting that the Asian Art Museum’s ewer also might once have had a basin.
Where Is It From?
Scholars of ceramics agree that the most sophisticated celadons were those excavated from the tomb of King Injong (reigned 1122–1146) located in the capital of Goryeo (today's Gaeseong, North Korea). The Asian Art Museum’s ewer shares many characteristics with four iconic celadons found in King Injong’s tomb in terms of design, proportion, and glaze color, suggesting the ewer might be a product of the same kiln or was intended to be included in the tomb.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
What Is Celadon?
The color of the robe worn by Céladon, a character in the seventeenth-century French novel L'Astrée, came to be used to describe grey-green and bluish-green stoneware in the Western world. In Korean the term is cheongja, meaning “blue-green ceramic.”
Making Goryeo Celadon
Scholars, scientists, and artists are still working to discover the precise techniques used to create the unique and extraordinary color of Goryeo celadons. The color can be achieved by firing the clay in an oxygen-reducing kiln with a glaze containing a low percentage of iron oxide. Firing at hot temperatures of around 1250°C (2282°F), this method results in an extremely smooth surface on the finished ceramic, although many fine cracks in the glaze created during the firing process are typical, even desirable.
청자 주전 Ewer with lotus-shaped lidAsian Art Museum
Producing celadons required a high level of technical sophistication and extreme care. As noted by the scholar Yi Gyubo (1168–1241), only one out of ten of these wares met the extremely high standards of the Goryeo court.
Major kiln sites of the Goryeo dynasty (2020)Asian Art Museum
Kiln Sites Develop along Coastal Regions
During the Goryeo dynasty, most of the kilns were in coastal cities, including Gangjin and Haenam in the South Jeolla province, for easy access to abundant soils and water. Celadon kilns with chamber compartments were installed on slopes. The coastal locations offered ease of sea transport, allowing ceramics to be shipped to other parts of the country and China.
Water dropper (approx. 1100-1200, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
Celadons at the Asian Art Museum
The variety and quality of the Asian Art Museum’s Goryeo celadons is one of the key strengths of the Korean art collection. The range reflects the tendencies of Korean art collecting in the West in the early- to mid-twentieth century, in which celadon ware was preferred over other mediums.
Vase (approx. 1100-1150, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
Celadons at the museum include incised, non-inlaid, and inlaid (sanggam) objects.
Box (approx. 1100-1200, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
Innovative Inlay Technique
The inlay technique (sanggam) was used to create motifs on celadon ware, including designs such as chrysanthemums
Bowl Bowl (approx. 1200-1300, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
and willow trees, which can be found in the Asian Art Museum's collection. Some scholars suggest that military officers’ preference for sophisticated and elaborate decoration over simple design led to a rise in popularity of inlaid celadons during the military regime of the thirteenth century. The inlay technique was also applied to other types of artwork, such as lacquer and metalwork.
Jar with lid (approx. 1100-1150, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
The shapes of Goryeo celadons in the museum's collection (and in general) are varied as well, ranging from prunus jars (maebyeong)
Ritual ewer (approx. 1050-1125, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
and ritual ewers (kundika)
Bowl (approx. 1100-1150, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
to bowls
Cup with stand (approx. 1100-1300, Goryeo dynasty (918-1392))Asian Art Museum
and cups with stands.
Bottle with fish design (approx. 1450-1550, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910))Asian Art Museum
Explore More
The establishment of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) and its adoption of Confucianism as a state belief brought major changes to the arts. Celadon production gave way to buncheong ware and white porcelain. Look for buncheong ware in the Asian Art Museum's collection to see this dramatic transition.
Masterpiece presentation made possible with the generous support of the Kuo Family.
