Cup with Incised Thunder Design (1100s-1200s): Art, History and Details

Cup with Incised Thunder Design (1100s-1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

As early as the seventh century, the practice of drinking tea became an important part of elite culture in Korea. In enjoying teas, elites commissioned a variety of types of utensils and vessels including this delicate-looking cup, not only to make their tea-drinking experience more exciting, but also to show their refined taste.

Object facts

• Title: Cup with Incised Thunder Design
• Date: 1100s-1200s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: celadon
• Dimensions: Diameter of mouth: 8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.); Overall: 9.9 cm (3 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1918.421

A detail from the museum

This distinctively shaped cup with a pointy base is known to have originated from a practice of drinking wine on horseback.

Collection credit

Gift of John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
• Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
• Jang, Nam-won. "The Tea and Celadons during the Goryeo Dynasty : Considering the Celadon Tea Utensils [고려시대 茶文化와 靑瓷]." Misulsa nondan (June 2007): 129-162.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.