Object Details
- Description
- Jar of globular form with high straight neck and low foot.
- Clay: moderately coarse white porcelain, fired reddish on the footrim.
- Glaze: transparent, slightly bluish, uneven in some places, and with areas of grit.
- Decoration: underglaze blue trefoils around shoulder; main area with four circles: two with cranes among clouds and two with tortoises in waves; single line around foot.
- Wooden box.
- Label
- According to East Asian belief, the crane, depicted twice on this jar, becomes immortal at the age of two thousand, while the tortoise is said to live for ten thousand years. Auspicious symbols decorated many porcelain jars used for storage in the kitchens of nobility. Here, the tortoise rises from the waves in his role as messenger of the dragon king, who dwells in a palace at the bottom of the sea. The stylized "cloud collar" surrounding the neck is typical of cobalt-decorated jars made at the official Bunwon kiln.
- Provenance
- From at least 1969 to 1970
- Daisho Commercial & Industrial Co., Ltd, Tokyo, from at least February 12, 1969 [1]
- From 1970
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Daisho Commercial & Industrial Co., Ltd., March 16, 1970 [2]
- Notes:
- [1] See correspondence dated February 12, 1969, authorizing Mr. Yoshinobu Daisho to ship the object, along with two other objects, to the Freer Gallery, copy in object file.
- A receipt, dated May 13, 1969, confirms the delivery of the objects to the Freer Gallery for the consideration for purchase, copy in object file.
- [2] See Invoice issued by the Daisho Commercial & Industrial Co., Ltd, dated March 16, 1970, copy in object file.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Korean Ceramics (February 4, 1997 to August 7, 2011)
- Korean Art (December 17, 1984 to June 23, 1986)
- Korean Art (March 20, 1982 to 2 April 1984)
- Korean Art (June 4, 1982 to September 23, 1982)
- Korean Art (July 15, 1981 to September 15, 1981)
- Korean Art (June 24, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
- Korean Art (June 19, 1969 to November 10, 1976)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Daisho Commercial & Industrial Co., Ltd.
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- 19th century
- Period
- Joseon period
- Accession Number
- F1970.6a-c
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Vessel
- Medium
- Porcelain with cobalt pigment under transparent, colorless glaze
- Dimensions
- H x W: 30.5 x 31.8 cm (12 x 12 1/2 in)
- Style
- Bunwon ware
- Origin
- Bunwon kilns, Gwangju city, Gyeonggi-do province, Korea
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- Korean Ceramics in the Freer Gallery of Art
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- ceramic
- crane
- Bunwon ware
- Joseon period (1392 - 1910)
- cobalt pigment
- Korea
- porcelain
- clear glaze
- Korean Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1970.6a-c
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3eedcfef5-d271-48b6-a8ec-8bbda221cf4f
