Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. Especially noteworthy here are the naturalistic sculptural elements, such as the elaborate finial surmounted by a phoenix atop the peony-blossom lid; the vessel and its ornamentation are based on metal prototypes.

late 11th-early 12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 27.1 x 15.3 cm

F1907.286a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.286a-b.jpg

2

178

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

first half of 12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 27.0 x 16.8 cm

F1907.287

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.287.jpg

2

166

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Ewer

Ewer

Gangjin or Buan kilns

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. This piece is an example of Korean celadon. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. This piece, which dates to the high point of Korean celadon production in the 12th century, features a grayish green glaze with areas of brown and a crackled surface. In the Peacock Room it was grouped with a number of other Korean celadons and beneath a row of green, slightly iridescent Chinese funeral jars.

late 12th-early 13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 21.5 x 16.1 cm

F1907.288a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.288a-b.jpg

2

165

West

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Ewer

Ewer

Wonsan-ri kilns or Bangsan-dong kilns

Freer purchased this ewer from the collection of Horace Allen, a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884. Allen went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. This piece is an early example of Korean celadon. The technique of preparing celadon glazes, which derive their color from traces of iron fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere, was first developed by Chinese potters and began to be used in Korea during the 10th century. Like this plain, rounded ewer, early examples tend to reflect the shapes and decorative techniques of the Chinese Yue ware celadon, which was made in a region not far from Korea and may have been the source of celadon glaze technology in Korea

11th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 22.3 x 14.5 cm

F1907.284a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.284a-b.jpg

2

65

East

Goryeo period

Korea

United States

Toledo

OH

Ewer

Ewer

This Chinese porcelain ewer was excavated from a Goryeo dynasty tomb in Korea. It was acquired by Horace Allen, who first traveled to Korea in 1884 as a Presbyterian medical missionary. Allen, who was later named ambassador, went on to assemble a remarkable collection of ceramics, many taken from the tombs of Korean nobility. Freer purchased his entire set of eighty pieces when it was offered for sale in 1907. He went over the collection with the scholar Ernest Fenollosa, who immediately wondered, "Can some of them be Chinese?" More recent scholarship has confirmed Fenollosa's hunch: this ewer, and some of the other pieces acquired from Allen, are now understood to be Chinese and to date to the Song dynasty. They document the extensive use of imported Chinese ceramics by the Goryeo nobility.

late 11th-early 12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Porcelain with transparent pale blue (<i>qingbai</i>) glaze

Qingbai ware

HxW: 22.0 x 12.1 cm

F1907.285

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.285.jpg

2

63

East

Northern Song dynasty

China

United States

Toledo

OH