Plum Vase (Maebyeong) with Clouds, Cranes, and Children Motifs
Date:
Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), late 12th century
Artist:
Korea
About this artwork
Celadon or green-glazed stoneware is one of the greatest achievements of Korea’s Goryeo dynasty. Goryeo potters absorbed Chinese techniques and surpassed that country’s examples by further refining a technique known as sanggam. The time-consuming and complex process of sanggam involves carving a motif, then filling it with white and/or red clay (which turns black after firing) before applying the final bluish-green glaze. This vase is decorated with two large oval-like frames containing a scene of children playing in a bamboo garden, and a motif of cranes flying through clouds, symbolizing a wish for fertility and longevity.
Plum Vase (Maebyeong) with Clouds, Cranes, and Children Motifs
Place
Korea (Artist's nationality:)
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Stoneware with red and white slip and celadon glaze
Dimensions
33.4 × 19.7 cm (13 1/8 × 7 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. Russell Tyson
Reference Number
1950.1626
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Robert V. Sharp, Art Insitute of Chicago: Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), p. 90.
Jay Xu, “Vase (Maebyong)” in The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade and Transformation, Museum Studies 33, 1 (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007), p. 83 (ill.).
James N. Wood, “The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide, Revised Edition” (Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), p. 72
May, Sally Ruth, ed. The Art Institute of Chicago - The Essential Guide, (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1993), p. 72.
Elinor Pearlstein and James T. Ulak, Asian Art in the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago / Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 150, p.82 (ill)
Osaka, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Chicago Bijutsukan Meihinten: Masterpieces of Chinese Arts from The Art Institute of Chicago, (Osaka: Association for the Advancement of Fine Arts, 1989), pl. 115 (illus), p. 148.
Robert P. Griffing, the Art of the Korean Potter: silla, Koryo, Yi (New York : Asia Society; distributed by New York Graphic Society; Greenwich, Conn. 1968) Illus. P. 95. – An Asia House Gallery publication.
Osaka, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, “Chicago Bijutsukan Meihinten: Masterpieces of Chinese Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago,” 1989, no. 101, traveled to the MOA Museum of Art, Atami and the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo.
Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5 – Nov. 17, 1968.
Asia House Gallery, spring 1968.
Russell Tyson (1867–1963), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1950.
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