Skip to main content

Gourd-shaped ewer: C.61 & A-1984

An image of Ewer
View image details

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Current Location: Gallery 29 - Korean Gallery

Titles

Gourd-shaped ewer

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unknown (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Gourd-shaped ewer and cover. Stoneware, thrown, with parts attached, incised and celadon-glazed. This ewer has a gourd-shaped body with flat base, a curved spout and a handle twisted of three strands. The domed cover is of flower-shaped outline. The body of the ewer is intersected by six vertical incised lines, a lotus leaf and stem are delicately incised on the spout, and the cover is similarly incised with the veins of a lotus leaf. The fine clay body is thinly covered with a glossy transparent jade-green glaze. The base is free of glaze and shows traces of fire-clay spurs, and remains of the saggar in which it was fired adhere to the glaze around it.

Notes

History note: Unknown before donor

Legal notes

Gompertz Gift

Measurements and weight

Height: 28.8 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1984) by Gompertz, G. St. G. M., Mr and Mrs

Dating

12th Century
Koryo Dynasty
Circa 1100 CE - 1200 CE

Note

Ewers of this type were used for wine. The gourd shape was particularly popular in the Koryo period and became more and more refined over the centuries.

Probably Sadang-ri ware.

Components of the work

Glaze composed of celadon glaze
Rim Diameter 2.6 cm
Foot Diameter 8 cm
Decoration

Materials used in production

Stoneware

Techniques used in production

Throwing : Stoneware, thrown, with parts attached, incised and celadon-glazed
Glazing (coating)

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.61 & A-1984
Primary reference Number: 16151
Old object number: 44
Box number: 44

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Gourd-shaped ewer" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/16151 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:03:48

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/16151 |title=Gourd-shaped ewer |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:03:48|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-16151

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa19/C_61_26A_1984.jpg"
        alt="Gourd-shaped ewer"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Gourd-shaped ewer</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...

University of Cambridge Museums logo
Cambridge City Council logo
Arts Council England Logo
Research England logo