Iron-glazed Prunus Vase with Inlaid Floral Design (1100s-1200s): Art, History and Details

Iron-glazed Prunus Vase with Inlaid Floral 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 and wine became an important part of elite culture in Korea. Once used to store alcoholic beverages, this type of vase features a wide body followed by a sharply rounded shoulder, a short neck, and a small opening. Most of the remaining examples no longer have a lid, but originally it may have had a lid that not only covered the opening, but also served as a cup. Against a brownish-sepia underglaze surface, three ginseng leaves with roots are inlaid with white slip, striking a modern, minimalistic style.

Object facts

• Title: Iron-glazed Prunus Vase with Inlaid Floral Design
• Date: 1100s-1200s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: iron-black ware
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.7 cm (11 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1961.270

A detail from the museum

The inlaid image that adorns the shoulder of this vase is ginseng leaves, famous medicinal herbs.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. Tea Taste in Japanese Art. New York, NY: The Asia House Gallery, dist. by H. Abrams, 1963.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.

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.