Joseon white porcelain
Hanja 朝鮮白磁Also written 백자 (白磁) · baekja
White-bodied porcelain under a clear glaze, fired at 1300–1350 °C, and the main court ware of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910).
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Forms, use and context#
From the 1460s official kilns in Gwangju, near Seoul, supplied the court; they settled at Bunwon-ri in 1752 and were privatised in 1883 or 1884. The Korean encyclopedia names white porcelain for teapots and for the bowl used to cool water in a tea set.
Body#
White body with a colourless, feldspathic glaze, fired in reduction at about 1300–1350 °C; the iron content of the glaze sets its tint.1
Glazes#
Methods#
Typical objects#
Periods#
Kiln sites#
| Site | Period | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Gwangju official kilns (광주 관요 / 분원), Gyeonggi; from 1752 fixed at Bunwon-ri, Namjong-myeon | 1460s to 1883/1884 | 7 |
Ambiguities#
- Founding of the Gwangju branch kilns: 1460s (Met), about 1467–68 (Gwangju City), about 1467 (Icheon City), late 15th century (encyclopedia).2683
- Privatisation: 1883 (encyclopedia, Gwangju kiln sites; also the baekja entry) against 1884 (encyclopedia, 관요; Gwangju City; Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation).31567
- Move to Bunwon-ri: 1752 in three sources; the encyclopedia's 분원 entry says only 'first half of the 18th century'.364
Heritage listings#
1985
Historic Site (사적), Republic of Korea7
- Item
- 314 (former number)
- Site
- 광주 조선백자 요지 Gwangju Joseon white porcelain kiln sites
Renamed in 2011 (formerly 광주조선백자도요지).
Other recorded fields#
- Tea context
- Note: The encyclopedia names celadon and white porcelain (as well as silver and brass) as materials for the dagwan teapot, says a white porcelain bowl often serves as the sukwu, and says white cups are preferred.9
- Note: A 2014 study in the National Museum of Korea's journal divides 19th-century white porcelain teapots into overhead-, rear- and side-handled types and dates the side-handled type in Korea to the 19th century (abstract read).10
- Note: The encyclopedia's white porcelain entry mentions tea only once: Japanese writers call the Imjin War the 'pottery war' or 'tea bowl war'.1
Sources#
Status and editorial notes draft
Sources are listed below. Their presence does not certify every claim; source-specific interpretations and unresolved questions are identified in the text. This page has not received independent expert approval.
- Draft written 2026-11-02 from the sources listed, each read on that date (Korean-language pages through the web-fetch tool). Korea Heritage Service records (heritage.go.kr, khs.go.kr) refused every cloud fetch, so designation numbers come from encyclopedia captions or city pages and stay Not yet verified until a Mac pass reads the official record. McCune-Reischauer forms were added by rule and need a native check. Korean is not one of the site's six languages: names.ko is a name only, no Korean prose. Region id gwangju-gyeonggi is a proposal (two Korean cities are called Gwangju).
- Not yet verified: Draft written 2026-11-02 from the sources listed, each read on that date (Korean-language pages through the web-fetch tool). Korea Heritage Service records (heritage.go.kr, khs.go.kr) refused every cloud fetch, so designation numbers come from encyclopedia captions or city pages and stay Not yet verified until a Mac pass reads the official record. McCune-Reischauer forms were added by rule and need a native check. Korean is not one of the site's six languages: names.ko is a name only, no Korean prose. Region id gwangju-gyeonggi is a proposal (two Korean cities are called Gwangju).