Buncheong ware

Forms, use and context#

Its decoration (inlay, stamping, sgraffito, incising, iron painting, brushed and dipped slip) varied by region. Some bowls reached Japan, where they were used as tea bowls.

Body#

A grey to grey-black body, darker than celadon, coated with white slip; the glaze carries less iron than celadon glaze and fires pale green or yellowish clear.¹

Glazes#

Methods#

1. Inlay (상감 象嵌) One of the seven techniques named in the encyclopedia.¹
2. Stamping (인화 印花) With inlay, typical of Gyeongsang according to the Met.¹²
3. Sgraffito, scraped ground (박지 剝地) With incising, typical of Jeolla according to the Met.¹²
4. Incising (음각 陰刻, also 조화 彫花) ¹
5. Iron painting (철화 鐵畫) Linked to Mount Gyeryong in Chungcheong; quick, free brushwork.¹²⁴
6. Brushed slip (귀얄) With dipping, a cheaper way to give a white surface, according to the Met.¹²
7. Dipped slip (담금분장, also 덤벙) ¹²

Typical objects#

Korean tea bowlbowls and dishescups (잔)ewers (주자)

Periods#

1. 15th century – 16th centuryAbout 200 years; ended by the Imjin War and by problems in the ceramics system.¹
2. 1392 – late 16th centuryThe first two centuries of Joseon; porcelain had replaced it by the late 16th century, and the invasions of 1592–98 ended it.²

Kiln sites#

Heritage listings#

Other recorded fields#

Inscriptions

• Note: Many dishes and bowls carry the names of government offices (for example Jangheung-go, Naeseom-si); most of the place names on such pieces are in Yeongnam.²¹

Tea context

• Note: The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art holds a 15th–16th-century stamped and inlaid buncheong bowl from Gyeongsang, named Naruto and kept as a tea bowl with lacquer repairs.⁵
• Note: The same museum notes that some mid-15th-century inlaid bowls of this type were exported to Japan, where they became tea bowls.⁶
• Note: The Korean encyclopedia entry on buncheong does not mention tea.¹

In other traditions#

• Influenced by (from that entry) Hagi ware 日Japan. Mishima (inlaid), hakeme (brushed slip) and kohiki (white slip) styles on red clay are described as Korean-derived styles. The link to the Korean 'buncheong' category is the drafter's mapping and needs the Korean thread to confirm.

Related#