Celadon Prunus Vase with Inlaid Plum, Bamboo, and Crane Design (1993)

This is a maebyeong (prunus-shaped vase) made in the Goryeo period, 33 cm in height, with a mouth diameter of 5.2 cm and a base diameter of 11 cm. Its mouth stands upright, its shoulder swells out fully before gradually narrowing, and its lower body flares out again — the typical shape of a Goryeo maebyeong. The surface is painted with slender, wind-blown sprays of plum blossom and bamboo, and between them three cranes, one descending, one rising and one standing on the ground, are rendered with lively movement in fine, painterly black-and-white inlay. Clay residue has seeped into some of the crackle lines in the glaze on part of the vase. The foot is carved away on the inside, and part of it is missing. Judging from the shape of the vase and its decoration, it is thought to have been made in the latter half of the twelfth century; it was excavated in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, together with fragments of a broken celadon cup. A similar maebyeong is held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in the United States, but its mouth has been repaired; this vase, which is complete and shows its decoration clearly, may be regarded as unique of its kind.

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Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물