Triple-lugged Celadon Jar with Inlaid Willow and Reed Design

Goryeo Period (13th Century)

This is a jar with a wide mouth and a body that expands sharply from the shoulder to form a full, rounded upper profile before tapering inward toward the base; three handles are attached at the shoulder. The main decorative motif on the body consists of willows with drooping branches and reeds around a pond, rendered in black inlay (hŭk sangam) against a ground that makes effective use of unpatterned reserve. The shoulder is adorned with an elaborate band of ruyi-head (yŏŭidu) design in inlay, while the lower section of the body bears a band of thunder pattern (noemun) in incised relief. The glaze is a clear, luminous celadon of blue-green tone, applied evenly and with refinement over the entire surface, producing a fine lustrous finish. Though the vessel — composed and elegant in its proportions — has lost its original knobbed lid, the treatment of the willow and reed motifs, which makes full and expressive use of the undecorated ground, achieves the quality of a painting in its own right. The work is thought to have been produced at the Yuch'ŏn-ri kilns in Buan or at comparable establishments during the first half of the thirteenth century.