Celadon Bowl with Inlaid Scroll Design

A celadon bowl made at the height of Goryeo celadon, 6.05 cm high, 16.8 cm across the mouth and 4.4 cm across the foot. It was excavated in Gaepung, Gyeonggi, together with the epitaph of Mun Gong-yu, who died in 1159, the thirteenth year of King Uijong of Goryeo, and it is the oldest of the inlaid celadons whose date can be known. The foot is narrow and the mouth opens upward, the line from foot to rim a gentle curve. A circle is drawn in the centre of the inside, with a large flower within it, done in reverse inlay — the ground inlaid in white clay rather than the motif. Apart from the band round the rim, the whole inside is freely filled with scrolls. The outside repeats the pattern of the inner rim, with a single chrysanthemum at five points round the middle, the flowers inlaid in white and the leaves in black. The single-colour white inlay of the inside and the lavish chrysanthemums outside go together well, a decorative effect rare even in inlaid celadon at its height. A grey-blue jade glaze covers it very clear and even, so that the surface colour is soft and the inlay stands out all the more. The bowl shows well the development and level of Goryeo inlay in the mid-twelfth century, and it is indispensable to the study of the history of inlaid celadon.

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Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보