Lot 352. A Buncheong slip-decorated stoneware bottle vase, Joseon Dynasty, 15th-16th century; 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 56,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Of flattened globular form rising from a high splayed foot to the cylindrical neck that ends in a rolled lip, cut in the white slip applied to the body with lotus arabesques with incised-line details and applied with a celadon-tinged clear glaze, the circular foot rim unglazed.

Literature: Tanabe Koji, ed., Chosen kogei kenkyukai zuroku (Catalogue of the Korean-art research society), exh. cat. (Osaka: Matsuzakaya Department Store, 1941), pl. 72.

Exhibited: Osaka, Matsuzakaya Department Store, Nihonbashi, "Chosen kogei kenkyukai," 1941.11.18-11.28.

Note: Brushed slip and sgraffito carving are associated with the kilns of Cholla province in the southwest. The underglaze white slip is thickly applied over the heavily potted body and the design incised in relief to the ground, a contrasting grayish-green when the vessel is fired. The overglaze is thin and transparent with a faint greenish cast which can be more pronounced, as in this example, where the glaze is more thickly applied. These buncheong (literally, "powder green") wares signaled a robust new era of ceramic design. The boldness of conception and spontaneity of these carved patterns has been admired consistently in Korea and Japan and in the West since the turn of the twentieth century.