Bronze Kundika with Silver-inlaid Willow and Waterfowl Design

One of the representative metal crafts of the Goryeo period: a kundika, a ritual water sprinkler, 37.5 cm high, decorated in silver inlay. Bands of flowers ring the shoulder and the area above the foot; between them is a bank of thick reeds and drooping willows, with ducks and other waterbirds swimming and taking flight around it — a lyrical landscape. Migrating birds fly in a line over distant hills, and a boatman rows a small boat on the water. All of it is done by silver inlay: the pattern is cut out of the bronze ground and silver is hammered in. The spout for pouring is covered by a lid pierced with a scroll pattern, with lotus on its sides. The lid over the round rim at the neck is also decorated with pierced sheet silver. In form the kundika is stable, with flowing curves, and its decoration makes full use of the inlay technique that developed greatly from early Goryeo. Several silver-inlaid kundikas of the Goryeo period are known, but this is the finest of them, its lyrical design set off by the blue-green patina.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보