Luminous celadon lures visitors to National Museum

Goryeo celadon from museums in Korea and Japan brought together for a special exhibition


Goryeo celadon has become a byword for the sophistication of the art of Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392).

Its subtle, delicate and somewhat inexplicable bluish color adorned with inlay patterns fascinated not only the neighboring Chinese and Japanese of the time but also people living a millennium later.

An exhibition of Goryeo celadon, which opened Tuesday at the National Museum of Korea, is the first large scale Goryeo celadon exhibition in more than two decades.

Under the theme “The Best Under Heaven: The Celadons of Korea,” the museum is showcasing a total of 350 pieces of celadon ware from Korea and abroad. They include 18 pieces of National Treasure, 11 Treasures and two pieces designated as significant cultural properties by Japan.

“This exhibition is the first of its kind in 23 years since the first exhibition held back in 1989. Something like this is unlikely to take place in the future because it took so much time and effort bringing the pieces together by collaborating with not only domestic but Japanese museums,” said Kim Young-na, director of the museum, at a press conference held on Monday.

The title of the exhibition comes from the book, “Xiuzhonggin,” written by the Southern Song Dynasty writer Taiping Laoren who listed the “luminous jade-green color of Goryeo celadon” as one of the “best under heaven.”

“It shows that Goryeo celadon had cemented its status all around Asia 1,000 years ago,” said Kang Kyeong-nam, curator of the exhibition.

The museum has taken an unusual approach in dividing the show into four sections: The Beginning of Goryeo Celadon and its Development; Celadon: A Window to Goryeo; The Essence of Goryeo Crafts: Sanggam; and Defining the Best Under Heaven, each featuring the distinctive character of Goryeo celadon.

The first section explains that ceramics of early Goryeo were influenced by Chinese earthenware in the shape and the method of baking the clay. However, as time passed Korean craftsmen learned to apply a celadon glaze. 

“At that time, coming up with celadon from earthenware must have been an innovation,” Kang said.

In the second part of the exhibition, visitors are shown the lives of noblemen in the Goryeo era when celadon kilns were controlled by royalty and the products were enjoyed by the upper class only.

From cosmetic oil bottles, roof tiles and ink jars to a baduk board (or go board), vase, toilet basins and chairs, nobles used celadon ware in their everyday lives.

Sophistication reflected in some of the most famous pieces, such as the “Celadon wine pot in the shape of a human figure,” or the “Seated celadon arhan with dot design in underglaze iron,” identify with poet Lee Gyu-bo’s poem “Dongguk Isanggukjip”: “You have baked blue ceramic glass cups and chosen the best one/ To have the eminent bluish jade color, how many times did you have to go through the smoke?/You are as clear as a crystal and hard as a rock/Now understand: You may have borrowed the heaven’s talent to make up the cup.”

The third section highlights the sanggam inlay technique invented by the craftsmen of Goryeo, which contrasts the white and black colors of two different clays.

The sanggam technique heightened the value of celadon. When the National Treasure No.68 “Maebyeong: Celadon with inlaid clouds and cranes design” was on the verge of being sold to a Japanese collector in the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945), art collector and founder of Kan Song Art Museum, Chun Hyeong-pil, bought it by selling off 20 houses he owned in downtown Seoul. “People understood its worth even back then,” Kang said.

The fourth section features a selection of 22 Goryeo celadon wares showing details of Goryeo culture, including “Kundika: Celadon with nine dragon design” and “Monkey-shaped water dropper.” 

“Incense burner: Celadon with openwork decoration” features three rabbits holding up the relatively large incense burner on their shoulders. The rabbits have almond-shaped eyes finished with black metal pupils. There are also some witty and humorous elements in the “Boy-figure-shaped water dropper” which allows the user to fill water through the forehead of the boy and makes the water drizzle from the mouth of a bird he is holding.

The exhibition runs through Dec. 16. The museum is closed on Mondays. It has extended hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays when it stays open until 9 p.m.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)