Lot 89. A small punch'ong bottle, Joseon Dynasty (15th - 16th century), 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) wide. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Modeled in the form of a rice-bale, with a short flaring mouth rim, the rounded sides decorated with thick white slip, underglaze-iron and incised lines with large flowers, the grayish stoneware applied with a glossy clear glaze, one side unglazed. With wood box.

Provenance: Private collection, Japan

Note: Many of punch'ong bottles from early Joseon Dynasty were made in the unique form of a rice bale similar to the present lot. Punch'ong wares with iron decorations on white slip were believed to be created in Gyeryongsan kilns. For a similar bottle with the same motif in the Ataka collection, see Byung-Chang Rhee, Richo toji / Yi Ceramics in Kankoku bijutsu shusen / Masterpieces of Korean Art (Tokyo: Privately published, 1978), pl. 88.

Christie's. An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese & Korean Art, 25 April 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center