Lot 528. A Punch'ong slip-decorated stoneware flask, Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). Width 9 3/4  in., 24.8 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 USD. Lot Sold 37,500 USD. © Sotheby's.

the horizontal ovoid form raised on a high splayed oval foot and surmounted by a narrow waisted neck rising to an everted mouth, covered overall with brushed white slip, each side decorated boldly in iron brown with intertwined ginseng leaves, the shoulder with sparse iron-brown foliate design centering the short neck, one side of the body with an unglazed countersunk ring, the foot ring and base unglazed, Japanese wood box (3) .

Note: During the 15th and 16th centuries, punch’ong wares were produced in the Kyerongsan mountains located in Chunchongnam-do. Punch’ong wares were identified by dark gray body from the high iron content of the clay in this region, and the boldly painted abstract designs, as shown shown on the present flask. The shape of this flask is traditionally referred to ‘rice-bale’, as it was commonly used to store rice wine or other liquids. Compare a similar flask in the Taum Collection, illustrated in Tuam Kim Yong-Du Sojap'un Torol, Seoul, 1993, pl.133.