Bottle with inlaid designs of willow and lotus

Object Details

• Description

  Bottle, pear-shaped; flaring mouth with gold lacquer repair; low, barely defined foot. Body surface under glaze roughly and irregularly trimmed and finished; a number of fissures, some through glaze surface.

  Clay: porcelaneous, gray; biscuit surface iron-reddish where exposed during firing.

  Glaze: transparent, glossy, pale celadon, uneven flow, fine mesh crackle, covers foot and part of base which have gritty kiln material adhering.

  Decoration: incised and inlaid with white slip under glaze. Lotus petal band base of neck, two simple willow trees and a lotus flower on body.

• Label

  In the Joseon period, pear-shaped bottles like this one largely replaced the broad-shouldered bottles more typical of the Goryeo dynasty. Compared to Goryeo inlay, the lotus flowers and willow tree sketched here are extremely simplified, leaving much of the surface plain.

• Provenance

  To 1899

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1899 [1]

  From 1899 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1899 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Pottery List, L. 88, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Peacock Room Comes to America [2022] (September 3, 2022 - ongoing)

  Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2016)

  Korean Ceramics (February 4, 1997 to August 7, 2011)

  Korean Ceramics of the Koryo Dynasty (May 9, 1993 to August 7, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Jeolla-do province, Korea

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Jeolla-do province, Korea

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inlay (process), Buncheong ware, Joseon period (1392 - 1910), Clear glaze, Stoneware, Korean Art, Ceramics, Flowers, Lotus

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes