White Porcelain Inlaid Yeolliji Design Bottle

This is a black-inlaid white porcelain bottle made in the early Joseon period, around the 15th century. The trumpet-shaped mouth typical of early-period forms has a rim that curls round and flares outward; the neck is slender and constricted, and the shoulder slopes outward before the lower body swells further down. With its centre of gravity set low, the bottle has a settled, stable appearance. Four horizontal incised lines encircle the piece at the shoulder and again near the base of the body, and in the broad band between them a yeolliji (連理枝) design — intertwined tree branches, a traditional motif symbolising conjugal harmony — is rendered in black inlay. The glaze is a thin celadon-type glaze; in places around the neck and foot it has run and pooled. Overall the glaze has an even lustre and has fused well. There is craquelure on the inner surface of the rim and around the foot, and the inner base of the foot shows a pressed mark. The foot's contact surface is unglazed and retains coarse sand grains. This piece is an example of the typical glaze colour and quality of 15th-century inlaid white porcelain, with a harmonious composition of design and inlay work in iron-bearing clay executed with relative skill. Among surviving inlaid white porcelain designs, peony and floral-scroll motifs are common, so the yeolliji design on this bottle is comparatively rare and adds to its formal significance.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산