White Porcelain Brush Washer in the Shape of Kumgang Mountain with Human Figure Design in Underglaze Copper and Cobalt Blue

Joseon Period (19th Century)

This bowl-shaped brush washer (pilse) is decorated with striking pictorial ambition: the exterior bears a vivid representation of the peaks, temples, and trees of Mount Geumgang, rendered in celadon-blue (cheongchae) and copper-red (dongchae) with a compelling sense of depth and presence, while the interior is painted in underglaze blue with an immortal sage (sinseon) dwelling among the mountain's celebrated landscapes. The glaze is a white porcelain glaze with a faint suffusion of pale blue, evenly lustrous throughout. The foot ring is broad and low, with traces of clay-mixed kiln supports on which the piece was fired. Produced at the Bunwon-ri kiln in Gwangju during the latter half of the nineteenth century as one among the scholarly desk objects associated with that manufactory, this brush washer is distinguished by the harmonious interplay of its majestic mountain imagery and the rich, complementary tones of the celadon-blue and copper-red pigments — a work of considerable decorative and pictorial accomplishment.