Celadon Inkstone with Inlaid Chrysanthemum and Peony Design and Inscription of "Sinchuk Year"

Celadon inkstones are extremely rare survivals, and this example is especially valuable because, along with its finely inlaid decoration, it bears an inscription of the sexagenary-cycle year that allows its date of production to be estimated, together with details of its maker and user. The inkstone is rectangular in shape. Its two sides are neatly inlaid in black and white with a peony scroll design, while the front and back are inlaid with chrysanthemum scrolls and clouds; a band of incised thunder-pattern runs around the upper edge, and a fine spray-of-chrysanthemum design is engraved on the interior base. The glaze has a bright, clear greenish-blue colour and is transparent, and there is no notable difference in the glaze layer over the black-and-white inlaid areas compared with the rest. On the underside, the glaze was roughly scraped away and eleven spots of sandy refractory clay were used as supports during firing. On the right side of the broad interior base is inscribed "made on the tenth day of the fifth month of the sinchuk year, for Seo Gam-bu, former hojeong of Daegu", and on the left, inlaid in white, is the inscription "a pair of fine clay inkstones, Hwanghasa Temple". The sinchuk year here could correspond to 1121, 1181 or 1241, but judging from the condition of the glaze and the inlaid decoration, 1181 is considered the most likely date. This is a special example, notable both for the rarity of inlaid celadon inkstones and for the beauty of its refined decoration and glaze, and especially for bearing inscribed information about its date of production, maker and user.

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Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물