Jarlet

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONThis is a porcelain jar featuring a design painted in an iron brown glaze.WHERE WAS IT MADE?This jar was made in Korea during the Joseon period. HOW WAS IT MADE?A potter’s wheel was used to form the jar, which is made with porcelain clay. The potter’s wheel was brought to Korea from China during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).It is likely that this jar was made in a provincial, rather than official, kiln. No vessels of this shape have been excavated from official government kilns.The decoration was achieved by painting the surface with an iron-rich glaze. When it was fired, the oxygen in the kiln intensified the red color of the painted decoration.WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS?The design motif on this jar, painted with an iron pigment on a white background, is representative of a stylistic trend in the provincial pottery of the 17th and 18th centuries in Korea. Blue underglaze painting was rarer during this time, because of the scarcity of cobalt after Korea’s war with Japan in the 16th century. The simple, sparse design on this jar and the simple shape of this jar and others from the period may have been influenced by the Confucian value of simplicity. Confucianism was the official religion during the Joseon period.