White Porcelain Jar with Plum and Bamboo Design in Underglaze Iron

This is a jar of superb pictorial quality, as fine as a well-executed literati painting, its dignified form still retaining the lingering charm of early Joseon shapes. The design was rendered using a dark brownish underglaze iron pigment: stylised triangular lotus-petal bands were painted at the mouth and around the base of the body, and a band of transformed ruyi-head (yeouidu) motifs was placed at the shoulder to mark out a broad decorative zone. On the body, plum blossoms and bamboo — motifs that appear frequently from the early Joseon period onward — were painted separately on the front and back, rendered with bold, skilful brushwork as if drawn in ink on paper. The natural gradation of tone in the underglaze iron colour conveys a sense of speed and vitality. A thin, transparent, pale greyish-white glaze with a soft lustre was applied over the whole. Among underglaze iron-decorated wares believed to date to the seventeenth century, this is an outstanding jar, rare among surviving examples.

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Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물