VesselsKorean7th century

Pedestal Bowl with Dome-shaped Cover and Abstract and Openwork Decoration

7th century

Description

This covered bowl rests on a tall footring in the form of a truncated cone. The lower portion of the vessel is a simple bowl with rounded sides; the tall, hollow footring has a well-articulated lip at the bottom and four small, evenly spaced apertures around its side walls. The high, dome-shaped cover has a small, ring handle at its top, the ring thickened at the top to facilitate handling. Together, the rounded bowl and domed cover form a sphere. The cover is embellished with a narrow register of incised triangles immediately below the handle and with a ring of stamped small circles immediately below the triangles; the triangles and circles appear on the upper one quarter of the cover; the remainder of the cover is undecorated, as is the bowl. Localized areas of olive-hued kiln gloss appear on the cover; those areas without natural ash glaze show the medium gray of the stoneware body.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Unglazed

Medium

Light gray stoneware with incised and openwork decoration and localized areas of natural ash glaze

Culture

Korean

Period

Unified Silla dynasty, 668-935

Century

7th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

bowl only: H. 7.4 x Diam. 15.1 cm (2 15/16 x 5 15/16 in.) bowl and cover: H. 13.3 cm (5 1/4 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.