VesselsKorean6th century

Large Cup with Strap Handle and Decoration of Two Pairs of Bowstring Lines

6th century

Description

The lower, bowl portion of this tall cup rises from a flat base; its walls expand rapidly and then turn inward, so that the cup's lower portion resembles a circular bowl with inverted lip. The cup's tall, upper portion springs from the bowl's inverted lip, its walls rising rapidly and at very steep angle. The thick, appliqué handle springs from the widest portion of the bowl, rises at a steep angle, then curves downward to meet the cup's side wall about an inch below the plain, unarticulated lip. A single, incised bowstring line enlivens the widest point of the cup's lower, bowl-like portion; two pairs of relief bowstring lines embellish the cup's otherwise plain upper portion, the lower pair appearing about one inch above the top of the bowl, the upper pair appearing about one inch below the lip. The only other decoration is a small, tube-like section of clay placed at the junction where the handle joins the cup just below the lip; this small piece of clay perhaps serves the added function of strengthening the join of the handle to the cup. This cup is unglazed; made of light gray stoneware, the exterior surfaces appear charcoal gray in localized areas, due to carbon saturation during firing; even so, most of the exterior and interior surfaces reveal the stoneware's basic light gray hue. Dirt and other burial adhesions appear in a few localized areas, particularly at the junction of handle and cup-at both lower and upper joins of handle to cup.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Unglazed

Medium

Light gray stoneware with appliqué handle

Culture

Korean

Period

Three Kingdoms period, Silla, 57 BCE-668 CE

Century

6th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 17.5 x Diam. 18 cm (6 7/8 x 7 1/16 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.