Museo Nacional de Corea

Have a nice day, happily ever after ^^Museo Nacional de Corea National Museum of Korea 國立中央博物館

I. VASE

This particular vase is from the Neolithic Age. This combed vase is thought to be
used for keeping food or cooking. It has a sharpy end(buttom) because it was used around riverbank or beach whose sand the vase can be put into. This vase shows the agriculture state at that period of time.


This special incense burner was found accidentally, which was a huge surprise since it was preserved so perfectly. A Phoenix(鳳凰)†with wings streched is on the Isle of Eternal Youth‡ soaring on a lotus flower held by a dragon. This burner is different form that of China from its indepent, three-dementional, realistic expression. On the each petal of the lotus flower, there are Phoenix, fish, deers, cranes etc. Plus, it has the religious meaning of harmony between Buddhism and Taoism.

† Oriental Phoenix: Its comination of a male and a female (couple) birds coming down the world with a great emperor/king's advent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenghuang]
‡ the Isle of Eternal Youth: an imgainary moutain where taoist hermits(神仙) live from Chinese legend, Taoistic world.

This vase is from the transition period: Goryeo to Joseon. Before this type of vase, celadons† was a huge hit. As white porcelains became a new trend (Yuan Dynasty's nobles liked blues but not the next Dynasty), Korean people tried to make the white vase, too. Nonetheless, it wasn't so easy to make because of the complexity of its process of making: necessary subtle adjustments. Therefore, they painted the porcelain with the white powder so that it can be looked a little bit whiter. In the past, people didn't value this sort of vases since it wasn't full complete version; however, nowadays, because of its coarse and lively expression, its reputation has been rebuilt.

† Celadon:

It is a type of jade-green porcelain. Production of this type of ceramic ware reached its height during the Goryeo Dynasty, and it is therefore commonly referred to as Goryeo celadon. The clay used to make celadon pots contains trace amounts of iron, and after a pot is thrown, it is covered with a glaze which also contains iron and is fired at a temperature exceeding 1,200 degrees Celsius. Because of its unique color, Goryeo celadon is highly regarded as one of the world’s cultural treasures.

This White Porcelain is the final version of Korean ceramic art. For almost half a millennium, noble people(schoalrs a.k.a pliticians) of Joseon loved this 'white' vase; as Ming Dynasty worshiped "whiteness", the new fashion influenced Korea as well. Since it's white, it doesn't exaggrate anything but show some modesty. Because of its price, not all people could use it. Moreover, while the war in 1592 between Joseon-Ming and Japan, Japanese took the almost like all of potters who became the core of Japanese porcelain export and the main of Japanese pottery art, Joseon was completely lack of supply. Unlike that of China, it is not perfectly "white", but because of that it has its own characteristics and attractions regradless of its less-refined expression compared with Goryeo celadons.