Melon-shaped Ewer with Incised Peony Design (1200s): Art, History and Details

Melon-shaped Ewer with Incised Peony Design (1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This melon-shaped pitcher is adorned with a delicate drawing that renders chrysanthemum buds with full blossoms in white and black inlays. In Korea, chrysanthemum flowers and leaves were made into both tea and wine. Chrysanthemum wine was enjoyed during the the Double Nine Festival (the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar) when praying for longevity.

Object facts

• Title: Melon-shaped Ewer with Incised Peony Design
• Date: 1200s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: pottery
• Dimensions: vessel only: 18.3 cm (7 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1921.618

A detail from the museum

The shape of this pitcher resembles a type of yellow muskmelon cultivated mainly in East Asia.

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.
• 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 (2007): 129–162.
• Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.

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.