What to look for in high-quality Korean Ceramics?
On our Korea tour, we will visit the Icheon ceramic village home to high-quality ceramics and master artisans. It is important to note that there are two styles of pottery that we will see.
First, the Korean Celadon, also known as greenware, was the preferred style in the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). It was used in the pre-modern Korean era. The early celadons made by Korean potters had no decorations on their surfaces. Later on, in the 10th century, Goryeo potters produced the plain celadon marked by a high-quality glaze that lacked impurities. In the following 11th and 12th centuries, they made vessels exhibiting a “jade blue”(greenish-blue) surface. The works of this period are also generally considered to be the finest works of ceramics in Korean history.
Korean White Porcelain Moon Jar National Treasure of Republic of Korea
The second style was White Porcelain or pure whiteware. This became the preferred color under the elites of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) and the new fashion. It is said that the elites preferred the white porcelain in part because it aligned with the minimalist and purist aesthetics of the Neo-Confucianism ideology. It was also influenced by the trade of white porcelain from China and Japan. Korean pottery developed a distinct style of its own, with its own shapes, such as the Moon Jar as seen above.
Joseon dynasty white porcelain
Click here to see the Icheon Ceramic Village pottery-making process.
