Buncheong Barrel Jar with Inlaid Floral Design

Joseon Period (15th Century)

This rotund, canteen-shaped flask — known in Korean as a janggun — presents a full, generously rounded body flattened on both sides, with a short spout set into the upper surface, giving the vessel its characteristic compact and endearing form. Scrolling arabesque bands encircle the upper and lower registers of the body, and as the principal decoration, an unidentified wildflower is rendered boldly in black-and-white inlay at the center of the body, its stems and blossoms spreading outward with an unrestrained, generous vitality. Produced in the first half of the fifteenth century as a vessel intended for outdoor use — for carrying and serving wine in the field — the piece is covered overall in a pale grayish-blue glaze. The combination of its sturdy, practical form and its freely rendered floral decoration gives this work an unpretentious charm that is entirely its own.