Korean bowl (pal) with dragon design

An image of Pal. Deep bowl with dragon design. Unknown pottery, Korea, South Cholla province, Kangjin-gun, Sadang-ri kilns. This deep bowl (pal) has straight sides and a broad flat base. The body is thin and has warped in the firing. Inside, a dragon among waves is incised in a central medallion enclosed by a band of youi-heads, both framed by a key-fret border inlaid in white slip, and round the sides six chrysanthemum sprays are incised beneath a classic-scroll border. The outside is covered with overall incised peony scrolls beneath a key-fret border in white inlaid slip. The pale bluish-green glaze is clear and without crackle. The base shows seven small quartzite spur-marks. Stoneware, thrown, incised, inlaid and celadon-glazed. Height, whole, 6.5 cm, diameter, rim, 18.8 cm, diameter, foot, 14.5 cm, circa 1130-1160. Koryo Dynasty. Production Note: This bowl is a typical example of the early period, around 1157, when the sanggam (inlay) developed from the simple umgak (incising) technique.

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Pal. Deep bowl with dragon design. Unknown pottery, Korea, South Cholla province, Kangjin-gun, Sadang-ri kilns. This deep bowl (pal) has straight sides and a broad flat base. The body is thin and has warped in the firing. Inside, a dragon among waves is incised in a central medallion enclosed by a band of youi-heads, both framed by a key-fret border inlaid in white slip, and round the sides six chrysanthemum sprays are incised beneath a classic-scroll border. The outside is covered with overall incised peony scrolls beneath a key-fret border in white inlaid slip. The pale bluish-green glaze is clear and without crackle. The base shows seven small quartzite spur-marks. Stoneware, thrown, incised, inlaid and celadon-glazed. Height, whole, 6.5 cm, diameter, rim, 18.8 cm, diameter, foot, 14.5 cm, circa 1130-1160. Koryo Dynasty. Production Note: This bowl is a typical example of the early period, around 1157, when the sanggam (inlay) developed from the simple umgak (incising) technique.

Image data

Accession Number: C.84-1984
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/32.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 786 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 67.76kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 32/1

Key words

12th Century bowl celadon glazed chrysanthemum dragons Fitz_AA floral flowers glazed green incised inlaid inlay Korean Koryo Dynasty Paeoniaceae paeony pal bowl peonies peony pottery sanggam scrolls slip slipware stoneware thrown umgak

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Korean bowl (pal) with dragon design"
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            University of Cambridge}}

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