Bowl

Charles Freer purchased this eleventh-century celadon bowl as part of the Horace Allen collection of Korean ceramics. Allen was a Presbyterian medical missionary who traveled to Korea in 1884 and 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 tenth century. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, this piece was grouped with number similar dishes and beneath an array of iridescent Raqqa wares from Syria.