dish, unknown maker from Korea

Archive Label 2003: The two flat sides of this impressive vase are decorated with symmetrically arranged lotuses complemented by sprays of blossoming reeds, creating an elegant, polished design. The motifs are set out in inlay. Chinese potters used the inlay technique, but it was more fully exploited by Korean potters, who drew on skills derived from metalwork and lacquer ware. Inlaying was a time consuming process. The design is incised into the leather-hard clay body and filled in with white and/or black slip. The piece is fired first at a low temperature, and then it was covered with a celadon glaze and fired again, this time at a high temperature. Inlay was used to decorate celadon wares only after a glaze of sufficient clarity was developed in the first half of the twelfth century. In this vase, the elaborate designs, clearly visible through the thin, transparent glaze look like splendid gems. The flattened sides of this vase can be related to the taste of Yuan (1279-1368) China, suggesting that this vessel was produced during the late thirteenth century.