VesselsKorean5th-6th century

Pedestal Bowl with Lightly Domed Cover, the Base with Openwork Decoration in One Register

5th-early 6th century

Description

This stately covered food cup rests on an elongated conical base that flares strongly at the bottom but then constricts to a virtually cylindrical form at the top. Of compressed hemispherical shape, the bowl springs directly from the pedestal base. The lightly domed cover rises from a short, vertical lip; a small, button-form handle rises from its top. Together, the bowl and cover form a compressed sphere--sufficiently compressed that, together, they are almost lens shaped. A single relief bowstring line divides the conical base into two horizontal registers. Elongated, vertically oriented apertures enliven the upper register of the base. The indented ring at the bottom of the pedestal base is a very sophisticated and aesthetically very satisfying finishing touch. A well-articulated, relief ridge accentuates the division between the cover's lip and dome and serves as a visual springboard for the arching dome. Two relatively closely spaced, incised bowstring lines on the upper portion divide the cover into three horizontal registers of unequal width; the middle register sports a ring of short, vertically oriented, dotted lines that radiate outward. The dotted lines likely were created with a roulette wheel. The covered pedestal bowl is unglazed; though made of light to medium gray stoneware, the exterior surfaces appear charcoal gray to black in most areas, due to carbon saturation during firing. The light gray hue of the stoneware is visible on the interior of bowl and cover, indicating that the vessel must have been fired with its cover in place, with the result that carbon from the smoke in the firing chamber did not reach those areas. Dirt and other burial adhesions appear in localized areas, particularly inside the pedestal base, in the apertures, and on the interior of both bowl and cover.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Unglazed

Medium

Light gray stoneware with kiln-blackened surface and with incised and openwork decoration

Culture

Korean

Period

Three Kingdoms period, Kaya, 42 BCE-562 CE

Century

5th-6th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

bowl only: H. 12.8 x Diam. 15.6 cm (5 1/16 x 6 1/8 in.) bowl and cover: H. 17 cm (6 11/16 in.)

Provenance

[through ?, Korea, mid 1960s]; to Jerry Lee Musslewhite (mid 1960s-2009); to Estate of Jerry Lee Musslewhite (2009-2010), sold; to Harvard Art Museums, 2010. NOTE: Jerry Lee Musslewhite was an employee of the U.S. Department of Defense who worked in the Republic of Korea from 1965 to 1969.