Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

korea essentials No. 11

Korean Ceramics

T

Hangeul | Traditional Painting | The DMZ | Traditional Food

2011 Series

he most well-known Korean ceramics are the celadon of the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) and the white porcelain of the ensuing Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). [...]

The celadons of Goryeo, their grace and color tinged with feminine beauty, symbolized an aristocratic Buddhist culture, while the white porcelains from the Joseon period are thought to typify the bureaucratic and scholarly Confucian society and were essentially masculine in tone, vigorous and orderly. [...] Korea’s traditional ceramic wares serve as a barometer for understanding Korean culture in that they most accurately reflect Korean aesthetics and the Korean worldview.

The Beauty of Natural Forms

2010 Series

Korean Ceramics The Beauty of Natural Forms

About the series The Korea Essentials series is a cooperative project between the Korea Foundation and Seoul Selection to furnish an international reader with insight and basic understanding into the arts and culture of Korea.

The content of this series is based on the material published in Koreana, the Korea Foundation’s full-color quarterly featuring indepth coverage of various aspects of Korea’s cultural themes.

Jeju Island | Museums & Galleries | Joseon’s Royal Heritage Traditional Music

Korea’s Natural Wonders Religion in Korea Korean Ceramics * Titles are subject to change.

Korean Architecture

9,800 won / US$ 18.00

ISBN 978-89-97639-07-6 ISBN 978-89-91913-70-7 (set)

korea essentials

2012 Series

Cover photo White Porcelain Jar, National Museum of Korea Cover Design Jung Hyun-young

Korean Ceramics The Beauty of Natural Forms

korea essentials No. 11

Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms Copyright Š 2012 by The Korea Foundation All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

First Published in 2012 by Seoul Selection B1 Korean Publishers Association Bldg., 105-2 Sagan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-190, Korea Phone: (82-2) 734-9567 Fax: (82-2) 734-9562 Email: publisher@seoulselection.com Website: www.seoulselection.com ISBN: 978-89-97639-07-6 ISBN: 978-89-91913-70-7

04080 (set)

Printed in the Republic of Korea

Contents Introduction 6 Chapter 1

The West’s Love of Korean Ceramics 10 Appreciation for Joseon Ceramics | Korean Ceramics: Delicate Yet Rustic Simplicity Chapter 2

Classical Elegance of Goryeo Celadon 20 Splendor and Decline of Goryeo Celadon | The Key Characteristics of Goryeo Celadon | The Best Under Heaven, The Celadons of Korea Chapter 3

Free-Spirited Buncheong Ware 38 Development of Buncheong | Different Types and Techniques | Buncheong, A Native Korean Product Chapter 4

Simplicity of White Porcelain 48 From Celadon to Buncheong to White Porcelain | Establishment of Bunwon | Historical Overview Of Joseon White Porcelain Chapter 5

Korean Ceramics Manufacture and Methods 64 Onggi: Living and Breathing Crockery from the Joseon Dynasty | Celadon | Buncheong | White Porcelains Chapter 6

Contemporary Trends in Korean Ceramic Arts 74 Pioneers of Modern Korean Ceramics | Second-Generation Potters Chapter 7

Korean Ceramics: Where to Go 86 The World Ceramic Biennale | Gwangju: Home of Joseon Porcelain | Icheon: Korea’s Porcelain Heritage Lives on | Yeoju: The Beauty of Practicality | Gangjin, Center of Goryeo Celadon

Appendix

Information 102

Delving Deeper • Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie and the Moon Jar 14 • Korean vs. Chinese vs. Japanese Ceramics 17 • The Celadon Roof Tile: The Apex of Aristocratic Luxury 22 • Highest Quality In Its Splendor And Grace: Celadon Incense Burners 28 • Celadon Cosmetic Box 36 • Treasure Trove of Goryeo Celadon Recovered from the Sea 37 • Fish Motif in Buncheong Ware 43 • Buncheong Ware Kiln Sites (Joseon Dynasty) 45 • The Maksabal: Ceramics for the Common Man 47 • Types of White Porcelain 50 • Bunwon 52 • White Porcelain Placenta Jar (1627) 56 • Korean Design Aesthetics in Ceramics: Simple, Natural, and Human 62 • Elegant Earthenware Figurines Reveal Silla’s Artistic Brilliance 66 • Ceramic Motifs 70 • The Traditional Ceramics Making Process 72 • Five Korean Ceramic Artists at the Fowler Museum 82 • Yi Yoon-Shin Promotes Everyday Ceramics for Serving Panini or Bibimbap 85 • Kiln Sites 90 • Celadon Master Lee Yong-Hee: Reviving The Essence of Goryeo Ceramics 98

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Introduction

Ceramics are not only an important vehicle of culture, but also a leading cultural medium of today. As different cultures make contact and interact, new forms of ceramics are produced along with a broadening of its artistic realm. This book thus seeks to explore the ideas and richness of international ceramic culture as well as the trends and ways in which newly developing ceramic innovations are unfolding.

In human history, ceramics are the oldest “tools of civilization” and are amongst the tools closest to us in our daily lives. Ceramics have developed in close connection with our dietary culture and played a major role in refining said culture. Ceramics represent the emotions and literary trends of a particular age—in a sense, they are like a moving art gallery or history museum.

According to Western archaeologists, ceramics were first crafed as earthenware around 10,000 BC in the Near East, the birthplace of civilization. Around 5,000 BC, colored pottery appeared in Egypt.

Porcelain first appeared in late Han Dynasty China. Porcelain development really took off around the seventh and eighth centuries, and China would dominate the world ceramics market for centuries after. Beginning in the eighth century, ceramics from Tang Dynasty China made their way across the Silk Road to Western Asia, and from there to Europe via the Mediterranean. As Westerners fell in love with Chinese porcelain, ceramics—which some English speakers began to call “china”—became an important medium tying together East and West.

China might have been the first country to develop ceramics, but

7

Korea took that technology and, together with China, wrote the history of world ceramics. During the Goryeo Dynasty, Korea even developed a form of ceramics all its own, putting sanggam designs on celadon to produce sanggam celadon. During the Joseon Dynasty, Koreans took the tradition of sanggam celadon and developed an entirely new genre of ceramics, buncheong ware.

Sanggam celadon and buncheong ware were two forms of ceramics found nowhere else in the world, not even China.

White porcelain might have begun in China, too, but Joseon Dynasty white porcelain produced a pure beauty with both a rustic feel and intelligence found nowhere in the ceramics of Korea’s larger neighbor.

Korean artisans even opened up a new era in Japanese ceramics by crossing the sea, bringing with them new skills and techniques.

This book will examine how Korea’s ceramics tradition began, how it developed, and what makes it so special.

8 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

The West’s Love of Korean Ceramics 9

“Pottery is at once the simplest and the most difficult of all arts.

It is the simplest because it is the most elementary; it is the most difficult because it is the most abstract. […] Judge the art of a country, judge the fineness of its sensibility by its pottery; it is a sure touchstone.”

- Sir Herbert Read

1

Chapter One

THE WEST’S LoVE oF KoREAN CERAMICS

I

nterest in Korean ceramics developed slowly in the West, and as a result they are little known by Western people, except for those who have specialized knowledge of Korea. Two major factors lie at the root of this problem: First, the failure of many Westerners to recognize the beauty of Korean pottery; and second, a dearth of publications in Western languages on Korean art prior to the 1960s.

Both of these are closely intertwined.

It is perhaps William Bowyer Honey, keeper of ceramics at the The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, who should be credited with being the first scholar to truly appreciate the beauty of Korean pieces—celadons as well as Joseon wares. Not only did he value the objects for their decoration and the color of their glaze, but in his ability to discern their overall aesthetic qualities he seems to have discovered the essence of Korean ceramics. In his book on Far Eastern ceramics he writes: “The best Korean wares are not only original; they are the most gracious and unaffected pottery ever

The West’s Love of Korean Ceramics 11

made. They have every virtue that pottery can have. Their shapes are simple, characteristically beautiful in proportion and outline, flowering easily and naturally into plastic and other decoration, incised or carved or inlaid, of unsurpassed beauty and strength. This Korean pottery in fact reaches heights hardly attained even by the Chinese. It has at all times a great dignity, a quality which is said to be in accord with the character of the Korean people.”1

Appreciation for Joseon Ceramics Honey was in fact the first to draw attention to Joseon ceramics in his presentation titled “Korean Wares of the Yi Dynasty,” delivered

1. William Bowyer Honey, The Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries of the Far East, (Faber & Faber, London, 1944), p. 167

1

2

1. Buncheong Bottle, Joseon Dynasty 2. Celadon Bottle, Goryeo Dynasty 3. White Porcelain Jar, Joseon Dynasty, Treasure No.1424 (Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art)

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2

20 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Two

CLASSICAL ELEGANCE oF GoRYEo CELADoN

T

he Goryeo Dynasty is characterized by its sophisticated culture, even though it suffered numerous invasions and internecine conflicts. Spanning 500 years, from its founding in 918 to its demise in 1392, the dynasty placed a high value on Buddhism, uplifted a political system run by its aristocracy, and maintained complex relations with various Chinese dynasties, like the Five Dynasties, Northern Song, Southern Song, Khitan, Jin, and Yuan. For geopolitical reasons, Goryeo was often invaded by the Khitan, Jin, and Yuan dynasties.

Goryeo kept itself in especially close contact with the culturally advanced Song. This explains why Goryeo, in spite of its political instability, managed to reach a towering level of culture, a level that was even comparable to that of the Song Dynasty. That development resulted in the creation of the first movable metal printing type in the world, the more than 80,000–woodblock

Classical Elegance of Goryeo Celadon 21

Tripitaka Koreana, ceramics, and Buddhist paintings. All of this constitutes the mainstay of Korea’s cultural heritage.

Ceramics produced during the Goryeo period, including celadons remain exceedingly high in value because of their beauty and uniqueness, a result of the strong influence of Chinese ceramics coupled with Goryeo’s own astounding technological advancement.

Goryeo ceramics were treasured even by the proud Chinese and exported to both China and Japan.

Splendor and Decline of Goryeo Celadon Goryeo celadons developed in three phases in terms of artistic quality: an initial stage, middle stage (golden age) and declining stage.

3

38 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Three

FREE-SPIRITED BUNCHEoNG WARE

o

f the many ceramics made in Korea, the humble buncheong, a pale blue-green ceramic covered in white slip, best reflects the Korean character. Unlike Goryeo celadon, known for its refined elegance, or Joseon white porcelain, with its pure aristocratic air, buncheong stoneware is natural, unassuming, and practical, reflecting the values and needs of the common people. Informal and unadorned, buncheong is by its very nature imperfect, yet it has an unusual charm, a fresh beauty born of that informality and lack of artifice.

Turtle-shaped Bottle, Buncheong Ware with SgrafďŹ to Peony Design and Underglaze Ironbrown, Joseon Dynasty, National Treasure No. 260, National Museum of Korea

Free-Spirited Buncheong Ware 39

Development of Buncheong Buncheong ware was developed in the 15th century during the Joseon Dynasty as Goryeo celadon underwent various changes in terms of decorative technique and subject matter. Buncheong was produced in the 15th and 16th centuries along with white porcelain, but it differed from both celadon and white porcelain in several regards.

After the clay form was shaped, the surface was covered in white slip and a design etched or carved onto the surface.

The subject matter and composition are clearly whimsical and lyrical; many pieces bring to mind modern abstract works.

Superb examples of Joseon-era buncheong include the Bottle Decorated with Peonies and Dots, (see image on page on the left) dating from the early 15th century. Featuring Maebyeong, an inlaid and stamped design, this bottle’s Joseon Dynasty, National Museum of Korea decorative motif was incised into the clay body while it was still moist. It was then filled with white slip before firing, a technique common in the creation of buncheong ceramics.

Buncheong ware is very similar to celadon. It uses the same clay, and is decorated in a similar manner to sanggam celadon. In fact, it really is nothing more than celadon onto which a white slip has been applied. In terms of worldview, however, celadon and buncheong ware occupy two entirely different universes. Celadon represents the tranquil spiritual world of Goryeo’s Buddhist elite.

Buncheong ware, on the other hand, is busy and carefree. It’s

4

48 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Four

SIMPLICITY oF WHITE PoRCELAIN

I

n Korea, celadon and white porcelain were produced simultaneously from the 9th or 10th centuries onward, while in the 15th century a more advanced type of white porcelain was developed. Blue-and-white porcelain was already being produced by the 1450s, at which time the royal court of Joseon decided to use only white porcelain. In an effort to improve production techniques and rationalize operations, the Joseon authorities established a kiln in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do province, to produce white porcelain ware for the royal court. The operation of this kiln led to a diversification of white porcelain forms and decorative techniques amid rapid development of artistic quality and production methods. At this time, the form and designs of blue-and-white White Porcelain Jar, Joseon Dynasty, National Museum of Korea

Simplicity of White Porcelain 49

porcelain reflected the characteristics of Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) white porcelain. But such influences were soon surpassed by detailed changes in form and the development of a new type of white porcelain featuring decorative motifs that were popular in Joseon Dynasty paintings. As such, Joseon white porcelain is highly distinctive in terms of its form, decoration, and composition.

From Celadon to Buncheong to White Porcelain The celadons of Goryeo, their grace and color tinged with feminine beauty, symbolized an aristocratic Buddhist culture, while the white porcelains from the Joseon period are thought to typify the bureaucratic and scholarly Confucian society and were essentially masculine in tone, vigorous and orderly. Better suited for the numerous Confucian ceremonies, the porcelains of this period were

1

2

1. Jar, Buncheong Ware with Inlaid Dragon and Stamped Design, Joseon Dynasty, National Treasure No. 259 2. Korean Melon-shaped Celadon Bottle with Peony and Chrysanthemum Flowers, Goryeo Dynasty, National Treasure No. 114 3. White Porcelain Jar, Joseon Dynasty (National Museum of Korea)

3

5

64 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Five

KoREAN CERAMICS MANUFACTURE AND METHoDS

E

arthenware can be called crude pottery, but not porcelain.

Unpurified and colored earth is used for earthenware, and it is fired once at a comparatively low temperature. Earthenware is a non-vitreous ceramic that is capable of holding more than 3 percent moisture.

Earthenware making seems to have started with hand molding clay and drying it in the shade. After being dried, the pieces are piled up in the open, covered with firewood, and fired continuously.

The bodies were buff-colored as the iron was oxygenated in the air as it was fired in the open.

Such an early technique was maintained until the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–AD 668), but beginning in the Unified Silla period (668–918), the potter’s wheel came into use. Now firing was done in the climbing kiln and the ceramic bodies were glazed to give them a shiny surface. The earthenware culture of Unified Silla

Korean Ceramics Manufacture and Methods 65

served as the basis of the Goryeo celadon, which reached its zenith in the 12th century.

Earthenware in Unified Silla was produced from the emergence of stone-piled tombs to the late Silla period, or in other words, from the mid-seventh century to the early 10th century. Around the 8th century, the technique of glazing the surface of earthenwares was introduced. At first, a natural glaze was used, but later an artificial glaze was added.

Onggi: Living and Breathing Crockery From the Joseon Dynasty When traveling around Korea’s countryside, it is not uncommon to see dark-colored ceramic crocks sitting in a sunny spot of a yard or on a terrace. These crocks are called onggi and they are used to

6

74 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Six

CoNTEMPoRARY TRENDS IN KoREAN CERAMIC ARTS

T

hroughout history, Korea ceramic art has reached a peak whenever a dynasty has flourished. The earthenware of Silla (57 BC–AD 935), celadon of Goryeo (918–1392), and white porcelain of Joseon (1392–1910) are acclaimed worldwide for their graceful elegance. Yet this pride of the Korean people, its ceramic art, essentially died out in the early 20th century under Japanese colonial rule, and lay dormant until the 1950s due to social, cultural, and political upheaval. Ultimately, modern Korean ceramic art showed its first signs of renewed life in the late 1960s, when universities began to offered courses in ceramics.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Korea ceramic art enjoyed a boom in a wide variety of forms, from traditional pottery with re-creations of Goryeo celadon and Joseon porcelain, to ceramic sculpture that blended pottery with sculpted art, to creative innovations applied to traditional ceramics. The various artists who emerged during this

Contemporary Trends in Korean Ceramic Arts 75

period have formed a mainstream of modern Korean ceramic art and are now cultivating their successors. Leading Korean ceramic artists include Kwon Soon-hyung, Kim Seok-hwan, Kim Yik-yung, Yoon Kwang-cho, and Shin Sang-ho. The major trends in Korea ceramic art today can be better understood by comparing the works of these artists.

Pioneers of Modern Korean Ceramics Kwon Soon-hyung: opening New Horizons for Korean Ceramics Kwon Soon-hyung (b. 1929) is a forerunner of modern Korean ceramic art. Upon graduation from the Fine Arts Department of Seoul National University, he decided to move to the United States and become a potter. The artistic significance of his trans-Pacific move is something that often makes itself felt in his artistry. He could well be called a pottery painter, so unique are his choice of glaze colors and patterns. And that artistic trademark of his has over the years come to be identified with his alma mater, where he began to teach pottery upon his return from the United States.

His works convey a heavily Eastern expressiveness and are much like landscape paintings, which rely on natural techniques and patterns. He is constantly dedicated to achieving a perfect harmony between form and color in his pottery. That is, he regards the form and colors of ceramics as a Maek, 1996 Š Kwon Soon-hyung, Museum of Art Seoul National University

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86 Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms

Chapter Seven

KoREAN CERAMICS: WHERE To Go

B

eautiful ceramics were and continue to be produced all over Korea. Some sites, however, are better known than others. In particular, the southeastern section of the province of Gyeonggido—namely the towns of Gwangju (not the city of the same name i n J e o l l a n a m - d o p r o v i n c e ) , I c h e o n a n d Ye o j u — a n d t h e southwestern town of Gangjin have been producing high-quality ceramics for centuries, and indeed have become globally renowned pottery pilgrimage sites. If you’d like to gain a better understanding of the past and present of Korean ceramics, a visit to any of these towns would be worth your time and energy.

The World Ceramic Biennale Gwangju, Icheon, and Yeoju Held in the province of Gyeonggi-do, the World Ceramic Biennale,

Korean Ceramics: Where to Go 87

offers the best of ceramic-related fine art, popular art, international art, and commercial art and, is known as the world’s only international exhibition of a comprehensive ceramic culture. When it was first held in 2001, it attracted 6 million visitors, while the second biennale in 2003 was attended by some 4 Seoul Gyeonggi-do million people. The ceramic biennale has since Gwangju Yeoju Icheon gained popularity among Koreans nationwide, and it is now recognized as an international event that features the participation of well-known artists from around the world. The three host cities of Icheon, Gwangju and Yeoju boast a rich tradition and history of ceramic production and remain the artistic, cultural, and business centers of Korean ceramics today, with over 900 (about 60 percent) of the country’s pottery kilns.

102

Hangeul: Korea’s Unique Alphabet

Information

Ceramic Festivals Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale • Period Late September to Mid-November • Location Icheon Cerapia, 167-29, Gyeongchung-daero 2697beon-gil, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do • Program Exhibitions, Workshops, Academic/Educational Programs, Symposium/Lectures • Organized by Korea Ceramic Foundation • Website www.kocef.org/eng/03_biennale/2012/01_03.asp

Appendix 103

Gangjin Celadon Festival • Period Late July to Early August • Location Goryeocheongjadoyoji (Goryeo Celadon Porcelain Kiln area), 21-11, Cheongjachon-gil Daegu-myeon, Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do • Program Exhibitions, Workshops, Artistic Performance • Organized by Gangjin-gun Native Festival Promotion Committee • Website http://eng.gangjinfes.or.kr

Yeoju Ceramic Festival • Period Late April to Mid-May • Location Yeoju Dojasesang (Silleuksa Temple site area), 7, Silleuksa-gil, Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi-do • Program Exhibitions, Workshops, Academic/Educational Programs • Organized by Yeoju-gun, Yeoju Ceramic Festival Promotion Committee

Icheon Ceramic Festival • Period Late April to Mid-May or September to October • Location Seolbong Park, 207, Gyeongchung-daero 2697beon-gil, Icheonsi, Gyeonggi-do • Program Exhibitions, Workshops, Academic/Educational Programs, Artistic Events • Organized by Ichen Ceramic Festival Committee • Website www.ceramic.or.kr

korea essentials No. 11

Korean Ceramics

T

Hangeul | Traditional Painting | The DMZ | Traditional Food

2011 Series

he most well-known Korean ceramics are the celadon of the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) and the white porcelain of the ensuing Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). [...]

The celadons of Goryeo, their grace and color tinged with feminine beauty, symbolized an aristocratic Buddhist culture, while the white porcelains from the Joseon period are thought to typify the bureaucratic and scholarly Confucian society and were essentially masculine in tone, vigorous and orderly. [...] Korea’s traditional ceramic wares serve as a barometer for understanding Korean culture in that they most accurately reflect Korean aesthetics and the Korean worldview.

The Beauty of Natural Forms

2010 Series

Korean Ceramics The Beauty of Natural Forms

About the series The Korea Essentials series is a cooperative project between the Korea Foundation and Seoul Selection to furnish an international reader with insight and basic understanding into the arts and culture of Korea.

The content of this series is based on the material published in Koreana, the Korea Foundation’s full-color quarterly featuring indepth coverage of various aspects of Korea’s cultural themes.

Jeju Island | Museums & Galleries | Joseon’s Royal Heritage Traditional Music

Korea’s Natural Wonders Religion in Korea Korean Ceramics * Titles are subject to change.

Korean Architecture

9,800 won / US$ 18.00

ISBN 978-89-97639-07-6 ISBN 978-89-91913-70-7 (set)

korea essentials

2012 Series

Cover photo White Porcelain Jar, National Museum of Korea Cover Design Jung Hyun-young