Celadon Lidded Bowl Set with Inlaid Chrysanthemum, Peony, and Scroll Design

Celadon inlay (sanggam) is a technique in which, after a vessel is shaped from clay and half-dried, a pattern or picture is carved into its surface and the incisions are filled with white or red clay; the vessel is then glazed and fired so that the pattern appears in white or black through the transparent celadon glaze. The technique emerged in the first half of the twelfth century and reached its height in the mid-twelfth century. The Celadon Lidded Bowl Set with Inlaid Chrysanthemum, Peony, and Scroll Design is thought to have been used to hold cosmetics. It consists of a large outer bowl (mohap) and five small inner bowls (jahap) that fit inside it. The inner bowls comprise one round, octagonal bowl placed at the centre (3.1 cm high, 7.9 cm in diameter) and four mountain-shaped bowls arranged around it (3 cm high, 7.8 cm long). The lids of the inner bowls are decorated with peonies inlaid in black and white, with a lightning pattern in white inlay around the outer edge of each lid. The outer bowl is 8.4 cm high and 19.1 cm in diameter; the rim of its lid is decorated with peony and chrysanthemum designs, and the centre of the lid bears a chrysanthemum pattern inlaid in black and white, while the body of the outer bowl is finished with a band of scrolling vine pattern. Similar lidded bowl sets can be seen among the shards recovered from the celadon kiln site at Yucheon-ri, Boan-myeon, Buan County, in Jeonbuk State.

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Where it is

Region

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물