Celadon Ewer with Floral Design in Underglaze Iron

Goryeo Period (12th Century)

This ewer presents a generously rounded body, a straight spout extending from the shoulder, a substantial handle, and a cover surmounted by a bell-shaped, lotus-bud finial. Two small perforations are pierced through either face of the cover. The decoration is executed in underglaze iron pigment with bold spontaneity: large, freely rendered flowering plant motifs (chohwa) spread across both faces of the body, while lines, dots, and lotus-bud forms are painted in iron brown on the spout, handle, and cover. The glaze is a greenish-brown throughout, the entire surface discolored by oxidation firing. On the evidence of the iron-painted decoration, the piece is presumed to have been produced at kilns in the Jinsan-ri area of Haenam around the mid-twelfth century. What distinguishes this work above all is the vital unity of its three defining qualities: the free, boldly sweeping brushwork of the iron painting; the warm, earthy tone of the greenish-brown glaze; and a vessel form shaped with unselfconscious fidelity to function — together creating a work of immediate and lasting impression.