Vase in the Form of a Melon (1100s): Art, History and Details

Vase in the Form of a Melon (1100s) 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. Elites of the Goryeo period commissioned a variety of types of utensils and vessels including this elegant bottle, not only to make their drinking experience more exciting, but also to show their appreciation of nature. During the Goryeo period (918-1392), kilns operated in Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces, meeting a soaring demand for high-quality tableware.

Object facts

• Title: Vase in the Form of a Melon
• Date: 1100s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: celadon
• Dimensions: Overall: 25.2 cm (9 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1944.164

A detail from the museum

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

Collection credit

The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss collection : Bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.
• Hollis, Howard. "Chinese and Korean Ceramics: Japanese Lacquer." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 31, no. 6 (June 1944): 103-108.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

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.