Spoon (918–1392): Art, History and Details

Spoon (918–1392) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Celadons, spoons, seals, and bronze mirrors were among the most common burial objects of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), placed in tombs to honor and comfort the deceased. This spoon, with its gracefully curved bowl and handle that bends downward to each side, ending in a scepter-shaped finial, is distinctive in design and was likely used in Buddhist rituals, rather than as an everyday utensil.

Object facts

• Title: Spoon
• Date: 918–1392
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: silver bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 31 cm (12 3/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1917.338

A detail from the museum

Scholars have proposed that toward the end of the 1300s, Koreans enjoyed meat-based soups more than any other dishes, explaining why spoons became common household items as well as burial goods.

Collection credit

General Income Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• L. W. "Korean Bronze Spoons of the Korai Dynasty." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 6 (1917): 99-101.
• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
• Horlyck, Charlotte. "The Eternal Link: Grave Goods of the Koryŏ Kingdom (918-1392 CE)." Ars Orientalis, no. 44 (2014): 156-79.

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.