mid-19th century
Rising from a short, circular foot, the body of this jar expands into a pleasantly spherical form and then constricts to a relatively tall, cylindrical neck. Four Chinese characters, which when pronounced in Korean read Pok (happiness), Su (longevity), Kang (health), and Nyŏng (peace), are set within circular medallions; auspicious emblems embellish the spaces between the medallions. Double-bowstring borderlines encircle the lip and foot, subtly demarcating the vessel's boundaries. The proportionally tall neck on this jar indicates that it was created in the nineteenth century.
H. 35.6 x Diam. 33.6 cm (14 x 13 1/4 in.)
Private collection, Japan; through Bluett and Son, London (in the mid-1960s); to Ray Thompson Collection, London and Italy; through Christie's, New York (early 2000s); through Kang Collection, New York; to Harvard Art Museum.
Brown-glazed ware: light gray stoneware with dark brown glaze
18th-19th centuryKoreanBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
19th centuryKoreanOff-white to pale buff stoneware (possibly porcellaneous white stoneware) with crazed, cloudy white glaze
18th-19th centuryKoreanBlue ware: porcelain with clear glaze over incised characters, the inscribed vessel washed with cobalt-blue before glazing. From the kilns at Punwŏn-ri, Kwangju-gun, Kyŏnggi province.
19th centuryKoreanWhite ware: porcelain with clear glaze
19th-20th centuryKoreanWhite ware: porcelain with light bluish glaze over molded decoration. From the kilns at Punwŏn-ri, Kwangju-gun, Kyŏnggi province.
19th centuryKoreanPorcelain with clear glaze over iron-brown decoration
19th centuryKoreanBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with carved and molded decoration, the bats painted in underglaze cobalt blue
19th centuryKoreanLight gray stoneware with mottled brown glaze over combed decoration. Made in Namwŏn-gun, North Chŏlla province.
19th centuryKoreanBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue; with mark reading "Un Hyŏn" ("Cloud Hill") painted in underglaze cobalt blue on the base; the inscription perhaps is a reference to the palace in which the Prince Regent lived from 1864 to 1873. Made at the official kilns in Kwangju-gun, Kyŏnggi province, perhaps in Punwŏn-ri.
19th centuryKoreanMolded light gray stoneware with traces of natural ash glaze
17th-20th centuryKoreanBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue
19th centuryKorean