Collection Highlights: Korean Art

mid 12th century
Unidentified, Korean
Koryo period
Stoneware with celadon glaze
H: 28.5 W: 18.8 cm
Korea
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1912.96

This bottle, probably made for use in the royal court, is embellished with the motif of phoenixes among peony scrolls, which signifies peace and prosperity. Masterful carving of the design caused the glaze to pool in the deeper cuts. Where the glaze is thick, it appears darker, outlining the motifs and emphasizing the incised details.

second half of 16th century
Unidentified, Korean
Choson period
Porcelain with colorless glaze; gold lacquer repairs
H: 7.1 W: 15.7 cm
Chinju or Sanch'ong, Korea
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1905.28

Provincial Korean porcelain bowls were prized as tea bowls in Japan. Discoloration of the clay of such bowls was caused by the tea's seeping through pores in the glaze. Japanese connoisseurs poetically compared the subtle variations in color to the rain-stained plaster walls of a dilapidated hut. Gold lacquer was the material customarily used in Japan for ornamental repairs of chips and cracks.

14th century
Koryo period
Ink, color and gold on silk
H: 107.6 W: 49.4 cm
Korea
Anonymous gift S1992.11

The Buddhist diety known in Korean as Ji-jang, or in Sanskrit as Kshitigarbha, was a bodhisattva (enlightened being) revered for his merciful deliverance of living beings from the world of suffering. He was also believed to have the power to rescue those who were unjustly sentenced to hell.

Ji-jang is customarily portrayed, as in this painting, wearing the garments of a Buddhist monk. His sacred status is represented by a circular halo and the lotus-shaped pedestals on which he stands. In his left hand he holds a staff with six rings, which would announce, through their distinctive sound, the presence of a Buddhist priest; in his right hand he holds a circular gem, which has the power to grant wishes.

Korean Buddhist paintings reached a peak of refinement under the patronage of the kings of the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392). The richness and elegance typical of Koryo Buddhist paintings can be seen in Ji-jang's ornate robes, which are embellished with delicate patterns painted in gold.