Goryeo
Goryeo ruled ancient Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. The kingdom oversaw an unprecedented flourishing in culture and arts with developments in architecture, ceramics, printing, and paper making. The works of this period are considered to be the finest small-scale works of ceramics in Korean history.
Key-fret, foliate designs, geometric or scrolling flowerhead bands, elliptical panels, stylized fish, insects, birds and the use of incised designs began at this time. Glazes were usually various shades of celadon, with browned glazes to almost black glazes being used for stoneware and storage. Celadon glazes could be rendered almost transparent to show black and white inlays.
While the forms generally seen are broad-shouldered jars, larger low jars or shallow smaller jars, highly decorated celadon cosmetic boxes, and small slip-inlaid cups, the Buddhist potteries also produced melon-shaped vases, chrysanthemum cups often of spectacularly architectural design on stands with lotus motifs and lotus flower heads.
Dragon-shaped Celadon Ewer.
Goryeo Dynasty, 12th century
Korean celadons have a unique glaze known as "king-fisher" color, an iron based blue-green glaze created by reducing oxygen in the kiln. Korean celadons displayed organic shapes and free-flowing style, such as pieces that were made to look like fish, melons, and other animals.
This pitcher is shaped like a mythical creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a fish, which appears to be dramatically leaping up out of the water. The dragon head forms the spout of the pitcher, while the body features a pair of fins that are energetically spread, as well as a raised tail fin. The vessel is reminiscent of traditional images of dragons that show them bursting out of water into flight. This is one of the most representative celadon wares of the 12th century, the peak of Korean celadon, for its aesthetic dynamism and extraordinary jade-colored glaze.
Kshitigarbha
Goryeo Dynasty, first half of the 14th century
Goryeo Buddhist paintings are religious art that expresses the prevailing culture of the Goryeo era, and are treasured for their graceful shapes, vivid colors, and strong lines.
The compassionate bodhisattva who rescues the sinful from hell, Kshitigarbha became an increasingly popular figure during the Goryeo period. Also a key figure in Pure Land Buddhism, Kshitigarbha is typically depicted in the guise of a monk, with a shaved head, wearing a monk’s robe, and holding his attributes, a staff and a wish-fulfilling jewel (cintamani). This scroll is a well-preserved example of Goryeo Buddhist painting. Some of the astonishing features are the deity’s graceful facial features and slender fingers, the red and green colors of the robe, and the sumptuously elegant gold decoration.
The delicate and splendid gold-painted design on the robes is typical in Goryeo Buddhist painting. Another is that the pigments were applied to both the back and front of the semitransparent silk, intensifying their hues and luminosity, though some have faded over time due to light exposure.
Very few Korean paintings made prior to the fourteenth century survive. Buddhist paintings of the Goryeo dynasty are renowned for their delicacy and refinement. Most, if not all, were commissioned by members of the royal family and the aristocracy and were painted by monk-painters or professional court painters.
