White Porcelain Floral Plate with Inscription of “Bok” in Underglaze Cobalt Blue

Joseon Period (19th Century)

This generously proportioned bowl presents an everted mouth rim and a full, rounded body of expansive presence. Eight evenly spaced notches are cut into the rim, shaping it into a lobed, flower-like profile. At the center of the interior base, the character bok (福, happiness) is inscribed in deep underglaze blue in a regular, upright script — written with composed authority. The glaze is a white porcelain glaze with a faint suffusion of pale blue. Produced at the Bunwon-ri kiln during the first half of the nineteenth century, this bowl was made as a vessel imbued with an earnest wish for good fortune — a sentiment expressed through the simple yet eloquent presence of a single auspicious character.