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A blue green pitcher with upper and lower sections decorated with cranes, clouds and flower motifs

From a circular base, the pitcher expands in a wide bulb shape, which narrows to a thin neck. The neck expands again to a smaller bulb that tapers to an even thinner neck at the top. The upper section leans slightly to one side, and has a handle which curves up, and then downward to meet the lower section. Opposite that, a slender spout curves upward from the lower section’s middle. The pitcher is glazed a light green-blue and features a design of white flowers with dark leaves within two offset rows of circles. Between these are wispy stylized clouds and cranes in flight.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1991.555
Title
Calabash-Shaped Ewer with Crane and Peony Decor
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
first half 13th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Korea
Period
Koryŏ dynasty, 918-1392
Culture
Korean
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/201401

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Inlaid celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over decoration inlaid in black and white slips. Reportedly recovered from a tomb on Kangwha Island, Kyŏnggi province.
Technique
Celadon
Dimensions
H. 30.9 x Diam. 14.3 cm (12 3/16 x 5 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Gregory (1922-1988) and Maria C. Henderson (1923-2007), Medford, MA (by 1969-1988), inherited; by Maria C. Henderson, Medford, MA (1988-1991), partial gift and partial purchase; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1991.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial gift of Maria C. Henderson and partial purchase through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art
Accession Year
1991
Object Number
1991.555
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Gregory Henderson, Korean Ceramics: An Art's Variety, exh. cat., Ohio State University, Divisions of Art Gallery (Columbus, Ohio, 1969), p. 39, no. 67
  • Christian Boehm, Korean Celadon and Buncheong Ware in the Harvard Art Museums, Arts of Asia (Hong Kong, Autumn 2023), pp. 106-, pp. 113-115, fig. 21

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu