Box: C.7 & A-1920

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unknown

Entities

• Box
• Cover

Categories

• Porcelain

Description

Box and cover with peonies and bats. Porcelain, thrown, painted in cobalt-blue and glazed. This piece resembles a deep bowl (sabal) with a cover shaped like a dish (chopsi). The broad base has a deep footring. The body is thick and heavy. On the top of the cover is a slightly recessed medallion in which the character su ('long life') is inscribed in ornamental form; around it are bats in flight among flowering peony sprays. The sides of the bowl are similarly painted with two sprays of flowering peony, all in underglaze cobalt-blue. The cobalt colour harmonises well with the pale bluish-white glaze. The rims of both cover and bowl and the footring were wiped free of glaze and the piece was supported on fine sandy fire-clay spurs.

Notes

History note: Unknown before donor

Legal notes

Given by Dr W.M. Tapp

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1920-06-23) by Tapp, W. M., Dr

Dating

19th Century-20th Century
Choson Dynasty (1392 - 1910)
Circa 1850 - 1930

Note

This vessel could have been used as a container for spices such as sesame or hot peppers. The designs symbolise longevity (the su character), happiness (the bat; in Chinese homophonous with 'happiness') and wealth (the peony). For a similar design on a ewer in the Ewha Womans University Museum, Seoul, see Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol.19, 1980, pl.185; and for a sherd of similar type and design found at Punwon-ri, ibid. pl.239 centre.